Purification of Regenerated Uranium in a Two-Cascade Scheme Using Intermediate Product Extraction in One of the Cascades

Abstract

The efficiency of two-cascade schemes for purification of regenerated uranium is investigated on the basis of a computational experiment. In the first cascade, by shifting the feed toward the waste the waste flow is purified by removing ²³²U with ²³⁵U enrichment to 5%. In the second cascade, the flow is additionally purified by removing ^232,234,236U in the intermediate product flow and natural raw material is fed into the main feed flow and low-enrichment commercial-grade uranium is obtained in the main product flow. It is shown that purification can be conducted by feeding it into the step minimizing the total feed flow of the steps or into the first step of the cascade. Low-enrichment commercial-grade uranium hexafluoride meeting ASTM specifications in terms of ^232,234,236U can be produced from the purified product obtained in the intermediate product flow.