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Uranium Enrichment Plant Characteristics—A Training Manual for the IAEA

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Uranium Enrichment Plant Characteristics—A Training Manual for the IAEA ORNL/TM-2019/1311 ISPO-553 Uranium Enrichment Plant Characteristics—A Training Manual for the IAEA J. M. Whitaker October 2019 Approved for public release. Distribution is unlimited. DOCUMENT AVAILABILITY Reports produced after January 1, 1996, are generally available free via US Department of Energy (DOE) SciTech Connect. Website www.osti.gov Reports produced before January 1, 1996, may be purchased by members of the public from the following source: National Technical Information Service 5285 Port Royal Road Springfield, VA 22161 Telephone 703-605-6000 (1-800-553-6847) TDD 703-487-4639 Fax 703-605-6900 E-mail [email protected] Website http://classic.ntis.gov/ Reports are available to DOE employees, DOE contractors, Energy Technology Data Exchange representatives, and International Nuclear Information System representatives from the following source: Office of Scientific and Technical Information PO Box 62 Oak Ridge, TN 37831 Telephone 865-576-8401 Fax 865-576-5728 E-mail [email protected] Website http://www.osti.gov/contact.html This report was prepared as an account of work sponsored by an agency of the United States Government. Neither the United States Government nor any agency thereof, nor any of their employees, makes any warranty, express or implied, or assumes any legal liability or responsibility for the accuracy, completeness, or usefulness of any information, apparatus, product, or process disclosed, or represents that its use would not infringe privately owned rights. Reference herein to any specific commercial product, process, or service by trade name, trademark, manufacturer, or otherwise, does not necessarily constitute or imply its endorsement, recommendation, or favoring by the United States Government or any agency thereof. The views and opinions of authors expressed herein do not necessarily state or reflect those of the United States Government or any agency thereof. ORNL/TM-2019/1311 ISPO-553 Nuclear Nonproliferation Division URANIUM ENRICHMENT PLANT CHARACTERISTICS— A TRAINING MANUAL FOR THE IAEA J. M. Whitaker October 2019 Prepared by OAK RIDGE NATIONAL LABORATORY Oak Ridge, TN 37831-6283 managed by UT-BATTELLE, LLC for the US DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY under contract DE-AC05-00OR22725 CONTENTS LIST OF FIGURES .......................................................................................................................................v LIST OF TABLES........................................................................................................................................vi LIST OF PROBLEMS..................................................................................................................................vi ACRONYMS...............................................................................................................................................vii FOREWORD ................................................................................................................................................ix 1. INTRODUCTION .................................................................................................................................1 2. URANIUM ENRICHMENT FUNDAMENTALS................................................................................3 2.1 ENRICHMENT AND THE NUCLEAR FUEL CYCLE ............................................................3 2.2 BASIC SEPARATION AND CASCADE THEORY .................................................................5 2.3 URANIUM ENRICHMENT TECHNOLOGIES........................................................................8 2.4 MATERIAL BALANCE AND SEPARATIVE CAPACITY...................................................16 3. GAS CENTRIFUGE ENRICHMENT PROCESS ..............................................................................21 3.1 DESIGN HISTORY AND BACKGROUND............................................................................21 3.2 MODERN GAS CENTRIFUGE ...............................................................................................22 3.3 GAS CENTRIFUGE CASCADE ..............................................................................................25 4. GAS CENTRIFUGE ENRICHMENT PLANT DESCRIPTIONS .....................................................31 4.1 FACILITY FUNCTIONAL LAYOUT .....................................................................................31 4.2 PROCESS MATERIAL.............................................................................................................36 4.3 CASCADE ENRICHMENT......................................................................................................40 4.4 UF6 CYLINDER HANDLING..................................................................................................43 4.5 MATERIALS ACCOUNTING RECORDS..............................................................................53 APPENDIX A. GLOSSARY.....................................................................................................................A-1 iii LIST OF FIGURES Figure 1. Nuclear fuel cycle...........................................................................................................................4 Figure 2. Basic separation element. ...............................................................................................................5 Figure 3. Stages are connected in a series to multiply the separation effect..................................................6 Figure 4. The number of states required to provide a desired product concentration increases as the separation factor decreases..........................................................................................................7 Figure 5. Cascade equilibrium time. ..............................................................................................................7 Figure 6. Schematic diagram of a gas centrifuge...........................................................................................9 Figure 7. Gaseous diffusion diffuser............................................................................................................10 Figure 8. Separation nozzle process.............................................................................................................10 Figure 9. Vortex tube separation principle, showing a cross section of a tangential end-drive tapered vortex tube..........................................................................................................................11 Figure 10. Chemical exchange process........................................................................................................11 Figure 11. Ion exchange process..................................................................................................................12 Figure 12. Atomic vapor laser isotope separation process...........................................................................12 Figure 13. Molecular laser isotope separation process. ...............................................................................13 Figure 14. Simple cascade. ..........................................................................................................................16 Figure 15. Value function. ...........................................................................................................................18 Figure 16. Modern gas centrifuge. ...............................................................................................................23 Figure 17. Centrifuge cascade......................................................................................................................25 Figure 18. Stage enrichments for a gas centrifuge cascade with a separation factor of 1.5. .......................27 Figure 19. Basic cascade arrangement.........................................................................................................29 Figure 20. Process and support facilities at a typical gas centrifuge enrichment plant. ..............................31 Figure 21. Major nuclear material flows involving UF6..............................................................................32 Figure 22. Minor nuclear material flows involving sample containers and contaminated equipment........................................................................................................................................33 Figure 23. Minor nuclear material flows involving waste transfers. ...........................................................33 Figure 24. UF6 phase diagram......................................................................................................................37 Figure 25. Schematic illustrating how production units can be operated independently or in parallel.............................................................................................................................................41 Figure 26. Stage header piping in centrifuge cascade..................................................................................42 Figure 27. UF6 operations in an enrichment plant. ......................................................................................44 Figure 28. Truck shipment of five 2.5 ton UF6 cylinders in protective shipping packages.........................46 Figure 29. Urenco on-site feed cylinder transporter. ...................................................................................46 Figure 30. Overhead double-hook crane moving a 14 ton cylinder.............................................................46
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