In: Chemistry
Uranium is a major metal that contributes as a nuclear fuel .
It is a common ore that is found in the earth's crust. The ore is mined and transported to the uranium mills , where it is ground to the powder form and uranium is seperated and then purified to produce a dry powder of uranium oxide . This oxide powder is known as Uranium ore concentrate (UOC).
These concentrates also known as yellow cake ( due to their colour) are transported to chemical conversion plants . This oxide is U3O8.
Now the uranium is seperated from impurities through different chemical processes such as digestion , solvent extraction , denitration etc . A High purity uranium trioxide UO3 is then produced .
These trioxides are then subjected to heavy or light water reactors to produce UO2 or UF6 .
After this , the enrichment of uranium is done by using two techniques , namely , Gaseous diffusion and Gas centrifuges .
The enriched uranium is then pressed into small cylinderical shapes , so that they can be used as the nuclear fuel .