During nuclear fuel production, one of the most notable compounds is uranium hexafluoride which is used for the enrichment process of uranium. The industrial synthesis of UF6 is the hydrofluorination of uranium mining concentrates through a process called conversion. The first stage aims at obtaining UF4 from the mining concentrate, then converting this UF4 to UF6, and finally storing UF6 before its use in the enrichment process. Depending on the source, this uranium is susceptible to contain impurities that can lead to the formation of secondary mixed phases and any addition of oxygen in the process will lead to the presence of diverse uranium oxyfluoride. Additionally during the industrial stages, the uranium compounds will interact with different metal linings of the fluorination ovens, the piping in the industrial site and the walls of the containers. All these factors lead to the need for research on the purification, corrosion and novel compounds linked to UF6 in industrial conditions. This research is undertaken at the Institut de Chimie de Clermont-Ferrand, and in part at AREVA, the leading French uranium company, and this presentation will outline the achievements on such a particular chemical compound.

Development of UF6 research at ICCF: Purification, corrosion and novel compounds

255th National Meeting (2018)

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