• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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• v.53 no.6
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• pp.1931-1938
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• 2021

Uranium ingot is produced by metallothermic reduction of uranium tetrafluoride using magnesium or calcium as reductant. Presence of oxygen containing compounds viz. uranyl fluoride and uranium oxide in the starting uranium fluoride has a significant effect on the firing time, final temperature of the charge, slag-metal separation and hence the metal recovery. As reported in the literature, the maximum tolerable limit for uranyl fluoride in the UF₄ is 2.5 wt% and limit for uranium oxide content is in the range 2-3 wt%. No theoretical or experimental basis is available till date for these limits. Analyses have been carried out in this study to understand the effect of UO₂F₂ concentration in the starting fluoride on the final temperature of the products and thus the reduction characteristics. UF₄ having uranyl fluoride concentration, less than as well as more than 2.5 wt%, have been investigated. Thermodynamic calculations have been carried out to arrive at a general expression for the final temperature attained by the products during calciothermic reduction of UF₄. Finally, an upper limit for the oxygen containing impurities has been estimated using the CaO-CaF₂ phase diagram.

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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• v.56 no.1
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• pp.42-47
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• 2024

The electrochemical extraction of uranium in ternary low melting LiCl-KCl-CsCl eutectic on inert and reactive electrodes via different electrochemical techniques was investigated. It was established that the electrochemical reduction process of U(III) ions on the inert W electrode was irreversible and proceeded in one stage. On reactive liquid Ga and liquid Cd electrodes the reduction of uranium ions took place with the considerable depolarization with the formation of UGa₂, UGa₃ and UCd₁₁ intermetallic compounds. Thermodynamic characteristics of uranium compounds and alloys were calculated. The conditions for the extraction of uranium from the electrolyte in the form of alloys on both liquid reactive electrodes via potentiostatic electrolysis were found.

• Journal of Radiation Protection and Research
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• v.26 no.1
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• pp.1-6
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• 2001

An accurate and rapid analytical technique of uranium isotopes in highly contaminated soil samples was developed and validated by application to the IAEA-Reference samples. For overcoming the demerits of the TBP extraction method, sample materials were decomposited with $HNO_3$ and HF, and uranium isotopes were purified by an anion exchange resin and a TRU Spec resin. With the extraction chromatography method, the hindrance elements were completely removed from the uranium fraction. The chemical yields with the extraction chromatography method were more 10% higher than those with the TBP extraction method. The concentrations of uranium isotopes in soil samples using the extraction chromatography method were consistent with the reference values reported by the IAEA.

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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• v.47 no.5
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• pp.579-587
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• 2015

To support the use of nuclear power as a sustainable electric energy generating technology, long-term supply of uranium is very important. The objective of this research is to investigate the use of new adsorbent material for cost effective uranium extraction from seawater. An activated carbon-based adsorbent material is developed and tested through an electrosorption technique in this research. Adsorption of uranium from seawater by activated carbon electrodes was investigated through electrosorption experiments up to 300 minutes by changing positive potentials from +0.2V to +0.8V (vs. Ag/AgCl). Uranium adsorption by the activated carbon electrode developed in this research reached up to 3.4 g-U/kg-adsorbent material, which is comparable with the performance of amidoxime-based adsorbent materials. Electrosorption of uranium ions from seawater was found to be most favorable at +0.4V (vs. Ag/AgCl). The cost of chemicals and materials in the present research was compared with that of the amidoxime-based approach as part of the engineering feasibility examination.

• Analytical Science and Technology
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• v.25 no.2
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• pp.146-151
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• 2012

An analytical method was developed for the measurement of uranium isotope in ground water using the liquid scintillation counting technique. A LKB Wallac Quantulus 1220 liquid scintillation counter (LSC) equipped with pulse shape analyzer (PSA) and a solvent extraction method were used for the measurement of uranium isotope in ground water samples. The effect of solution volume on the extraction efficiency was evaluated for 100 to 1000 mL solutions using a NIST standard reference material (NIST SRM 4321C). The effect of groundwater pH on the extraction efficiency was also investigated for pH ranging from 0.5 to 10. It was found that the extraction efficiency had a strong dependence on pH showing a maximum at pH 2. In contrast, the effect of groundwater volume on the extraction efficiency was negligible in the range investigated. According to the method, the extraction efficiency of uranium isotopes was near 96% and the lower detection limit for uranium was 0.018 Bq/L with the counting time of 300 min. The result of this study was also verified by the conventional ICP-MS measurement. It is demonstrated that the suggested method is valuable to the determination of the optimum extraction and measurement conditions for uranium in ground water. The method was successfully applied to the ground water at four locations near the Daejeon province. It was found that the uranium content and the isotopic ratio of $^{234}U/^{238}U$ at the locations ranged 0.59~6.69 Bq/L and 0.72~1.40, respectively.

• Analytical Science and Technology
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• v.10 no.5
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• pp.307-314
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• 1997

Inductively coupled plasma atomic emission spectrometry(ICP/AES) was used for the determination of uranium and thorium in geological materials. Samples were predecomposed by mixed acid digestion technique. The separation of the uranium and thorium was achieved by systematic solvent extraction with TTA(thenoyltrifluoroacetone) and TOA (tri-n-octylamine) and back extraction into HCl. The results for standard rock sample, NIST SRM 278, showed a good agreement with those certified from NIST as well as found values by other non-destructive techniques. Additional purification for extracted portions was carried out by anion exchange chromatography for measurement of several natural radioisotopes of uranium and thorium by alpha spectrometry.

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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• v.54 no.5
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• pp.1560-1569
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• 2022

Liquid fueled molten salt reactors (MSRs) have seen renewed interest because of their inherent safety features, higher thermal efficiency and potential for efficient thorium utilisation for power generation. Thorium fluoride is one of the salts used in liquid fueled MSRs employing Th-U cycle. In the present study, ThF₄ was prepared by hydro-fluorination of ThO₂ using anhydrous HF gas. Process parameters viz. bed depth, hydrofluorination time and hydrofluorination temperature, were optimized for the preparation of ThF₄ in a static bed reactor setup. The products were characterized with X-Ray diffraction and experimental conditions for complete conversion to ThF₄ were established which also corroborated with the yield values. Hydrofluorination of ThO₂ at 450 ℃ for half an hour at a bed depth of 6 mm gave the best result, with a yield of about 99.36% ThF₄. No unconverted oxide or any other impurity was observed. Rietveld refinement was performed on the XRD data of this ThF₄, and Chi2 value of 3.54 indicated good agreement between observed and calculated profiles.

• Journal of the Korean Chemical Society
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• v.22 no.5
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• pp.320-325
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• 1978

In order to elucidate the mechanism associated with the solvent extraction of uranium(VI) using DEPA and DPPA as extractant the uranium(VI) complexes formed during the solvent extraction were isolated and characterized by means of IR, NMR, chemical analysis and molecular weight determination. It has been found that uranium(VI) replaces the acidic hydrogen ions of the extractants DEPA and DPPA to form chelated polynuclear complexes, the molecular weight of U(VI)-DEPA complex being $2.1{\times}10^4$. The isolated U(VI)-DEPA complex has been found to be the same chemical species as is formed during the solvent extraction process. In case of DEPA the distribution coefficient of uranium is the largest of the pure aqueous uranium solution and is increasing for the acidic solutions in the order of $H_3PO_4.

• Journal of Radiation Protection and Research
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• v.24 no.1
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• pp.1-7
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• 1999

Using the TBP slovent extraction method, a simple and precise method for determining uranium isotopes in the environment samples was developed. The soil sample was decomposed with $HNO_3$ and HF. Uranium isotopes were extracted with 15% TBP in $CCl_4$ from aqueous phase to organic phase, and Th fraction was removed with 8M HCl. Uranium fraction was purified in back extraction step with 1M HCl. Optimized electrode position conditions of uranium Isotopes were set using a new electrode position solution including a DTPA chelating agent. The new method of uranium isotopes determination was validated with a result of application to IAEA Reference Soils.

• Mass Spectrometry Letters
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• v.5 no.1
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• pp.12-15
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• 2014

Thermal ionization mass spectrometry (TIMS) was used to determine the concentration and isotope ratio of uranium contained in samples of soil and groundwater collected from Korea. Quantification of uranium in ground water samples was performed by isotope dilution mass spectrometry. A series of chemical treatment processes, including chemical separation using extraction chromatography, was applied to the soil samples to extract the uranium. No treatments other than filtration were applied to the groundwater samples. Isotopic analyses by TIMS showed that the isotope ratios of uranium in both the soil and water samples were indistinguishable from those of naturally abundant uranium. The concentration of uranium in the groundwater samples was within the U.S. acceptable standards for drinking water. These results demonstrate the utility of TIMS for monitoring uranium in environmental samples with high analytical reliability.