Purification of Regenerated Uranium Hexafluoride by Removal of 232,234,236U in the Intermediate Product of a Two-Feed-Flow Cascade

Abstract

The enrichment of regenerated uranium hexafluoride in a cascade with an intermediate product flow and additional feed flow of native or depleted uranium hexafluoride is studied. Low enrichment regenerated uranium hexafluoride to be used for the fabrication of nuclear fuel is produced in the main product flow; product with the same ²³⁵U concentration as in the main feed flow with regenerated uranium hexafluoride but significantly lower content of ^232,234,236U is produced in the intermediate flow. To improve quality in terms of ²³⁶U, the point of entry of the additional feed flow of depleted uranium hexafluoride can be shifted closer to the main feed flow with a small increase of the total flow in the cascade. The separation work can be significantly reduced by introducing an additional intermediate product flow into the cascade.