Development of Metallic Uranium Recovery Technology from Uranium Oxide by Li Reduction and Electrorefining

The carbon reduction of uranium oxide

The preparation of uranium metal directly from its oxides has been studied by a number of investigators. Various approaches have been pursued in these studies. Some attempts to produce the metal by electrolysis of the oxide in fused salt have been made; however, the reductions of the oxides by another metal and by carbon have attracted most attention. Although no entirely satisfactory method ha...

Metallic Uranium Targets

In 2004 we reported on a new evaporation set up for uranium-compound targets, basically UF4, for heavy-ion experiments [1]. Since for most experiments in nuclear physics and chemistry targets from metallic uranium would be preferred because side reactions are minimized, we upgraded our high-vacuum coater TF 600 from BOC Edwards© with a magnetron sputtering equipment which is suitable for deposi...

Uranium Ion Yields from Monodisperse Uranium Oxide Particles.

Uranium reduction.

The dramatic decrease in solubility accompanying the reduction of U(VI) to U(IV), producing the insoluble mineral uraninite, has been viewed as a potential mechanism for sequestration of environmental uranium contamination. In the past 15 years, it has been firmly established that a variety of bacteria exhibit this reductive capacity. To obtain an understanding of the microbial metal metabolism...

Reduction of uranium by Desulfovibrio desulfuricans.

The possibility that sulfate-reducing microorganisms contribute to U(VI) reduction in sedimentary environments was investigated. U(VI) was reduced to U(IV) when washed cells of sulfate-grown Desulfovibrio desulfuricans were suspended in a bicarbonate buffer with lactate or H2 as the electron donor. There was no U(VI) reduction in the absence of an electron donor or when the cells were killed by...