ENRICHED URANIUM

OVERVIEW
Uranium is a radioactive substance, therefore unlike most pure substances, its particles break apart into smaller particles releasing nuclear energy. Uranium ore is mined from underground or open cut methods and contains uranium, it can be separated by crushing and grounding up the ore, acid is then added to dissolve the uranium which is later recovered from the solution. Out of the 495 commercial nuclear power reactors operating, the fuel used for producing nuclear power is enriched uranium. Enriched uranium is a type of uranium-235 (an isotope of uranium) which has gone under the process of isotope separation. Isotope separation is a physical process of concentrating specific isotopes of a chemical element by removing other isotopes. Isotope separation can create enriched uranium and depleted uranium. Natural uranium consists of 0.7% uranium-235 and 99.3% of uranium-238. Uranium-238 is not used as it does not contribute directly to the fission process. Most commercial reactors are Light Water reactors and require enriched uranium from 0.7% to 3% to 5%. Isotope separation of uranium is a process on a mixture obtained from the lithosphere. The properties of the mixture used in separation is the different isotopes of uranium specifically uranium-235 and uranium-238. These isotopes being so similar chemically are separated based upon electronic energies and their ability to absorb different colours of light. The end product of this separation is enriched uranium with an increase in the percentage of uranium-235 as opposed to uranium-238. The product of laser isotope separation of uranium enriches the uranium-235 from 0.7% to 4%. From the separation itself, there are minimal wastage as either the natural uranium is reused or discarded, this is categorised as low-level waste. However the end product of producing nuclear power is nuclear waste which is classified into three levels according to how reactive it is: http://en.wikipedia .org/wiki/File:Urani um_enrichment_pr oportions.svg

Low-level waste may be incinerated, stored in strong containers or buried at special sites. Intermediate-level waste is packaged inside cement within steel drums and buried in deep trenches High-level waste is stored underwater for several years before being reprocessed or disposed of. It may then be melted to form glass blocks and stored unground in stainless steel drums.

Isotope separation is a scientific challenge to do effectively and inexpensively. Traditionally done via gaseous diffusion and gas centrifuge techniques, laser isotope separation is now used and is likely the least expensive enrichment technology for the elements it can be applied to. Laser isotope separation bases on that different isotopes have different electronic energies and therefore absorb different colours of laser light. The laser then effectively vaporises the atoms of the unwanted isotope.

LASER ISOTOPE SEPARATION OF NATURAL URANIUM TO OBTAIN URANIUM-235

1) Uranium vaporised in a separator unit contained in a vacuum chamber. The vapour stream is illuminated with a laser light tuned precisely to a colour at which uranium-235 absorbs energy.

2) Diode-pumped, solid-state lasers providing short, high-intensity pulses at high repetition rates laser lights are generated. 3) Solid-state lasers create a green light which travels via fibre-optic cable to energise high-power dye lasers that absorb green light and reemits it to three wavelengths of red-orange light absorbed only by uranium-235. 4) The colour provides enough energy to ionise or remove an electron from uranium-235, the other isotopes are unaffected 5) Uranium-235 now has a positive charge and is easily collected on a negatively charged surface inside the separator unit. 6) The end material is condense as liquid on the surface and flows to a caster where it solidifies as metal nuggets. The rest of the natural uranium goes through a product collector, condense on the tailings collector and are removed.

https://www.llnl.gov/str/Hargrove.html

BIBLIOGRAPHY
Enriched Uranium 23 January 2013, Wikipedia, accessed 11 February 2013, <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Enriched_uranium>. Hargrove, S May 2000, Laser Isotope Separation, Llnl, accessed 11 February 2013, <https://www.llnl.gov/str/Hargrove.html>. Isotope Separation 1 February 2013, Wikipedia, accessed 11 February 2013, <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Isotope_separation>. Uranium-235 9 February 2013, Wikipedia, accessed 11 February 2013, <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Uranium235>. Uranium Enrichment September 2012, World Nuclear Association, accessed 11 February 2013, <http://www.world-nuclear.org/info/inf28.html>. What is uranium? How does it work? May 2012, World Nuclear Association, accessed 11 February 2013, <http://www.world-nuclear.org/education/uran.htm>.

identify data resources, gather, process and analyse information from secondary sources to identify the industrial separation processes used on a mixture obtained from the biosphere, lithosphere, hydrosphere, OR atmosphere and use the evidence available to: - identify the properties of the mixture used in its separation - identify the products of separation and their uses - discuss issues associated with wastes from the processes used