Economic Efficiency of Bringing Depleted Uranium into Enrichment

Abstract

The economic expediency of re-enrichment of depleted uranium with the possibility of subsequent disposal of secondary waste is evaluated. Three variants of bringing depleted uranium as a raw material into the production of natural-uranium equivalent and enrichment of uranium product are examined. Methods are proposed for evaluating the expediency of producing a natural-uranium equivalent from depleted uranium under different market conditions and in different operating regimes of the separation cascade as well as methods of evaluating the value of depleted uranium in the production of a natural-uranium equivalent and the production of enriched uranium product. It is shown that an effective method of bringing depleted uranium into enrichment is diversified production of enriched uranium product and not the production of a natural-uranium equivalent.