Physicochemical foundations of the pioneering technology for the carbonaceous uranium ore processing

Abstract

The article presents the results of the first known industrial trials for the processing of uranium-containing slag obtained during blast-furnace smelting of carbonaceous iron-uranium ore (Zhovtorichenske deposit, Ukraine). It is shown that the fractional precipitation of iron and aluminum impurities allows reducing the losses of uranium and increasing the degree of utilization of nitrate nitrogen and ammonia nitrogen, additionally producing the ammonium nitrate as fertilizer. The scheme for chemical concentrate processing ensured a significant increase in the degree of uranium deposition into the finished product – up to 60%. Nitric acid sludge processing technology made it possible to maintain the water balance and completely prevented the discharge of off-balance effluents into the river Dnipro.

An Introduction to Nuclear Industrial Archaeology

“…Prydniprovsky Chemical Plant (PChP) is a large ex-Soviet materials and chemicals processing site of roughly 260 hectares in central Ukraine, on the outskirts of the city of Kamianske. Between 1948 and 1991 [27] (p. 217), the site processed uranium and thorium ore into ore concentrate, separated rare earth elements and produced other industrial chemicals such as fertiliser [28] and ion exchange resins [29]. Tens of millions of tonnes of radioactive waste were generated on the site during its operational lifetime.…”

Reducing operational risks during suspensions separation in rare metals technology

“…The growth in uranium production volumes in Ukraine alone required an increase in the processing of uranium ore to 5 million tons per year. With a filtration rate of up to 0.5 t/m 2 hour, the cost of installing and operating standard filtering equipment, even with the high cost of uranium concentrate, makes uranium production unprofitable [6].…”

“…The specific gravity of the solid phase more than 2 g/cm³ is higher than the density of the liquid phase, which does not exceed 1.2 g/cm³ for neutral media. Such a suspension is formed, for example, in the production of reactor zirconium, after the operation of soda or alkaline leaching of zircon concentrates [8].…”