Improving the Scientific Basis for Managing DOE's Excess Nuclear Materials and Spent Nuclear Fuel (2003) / Chapter Skim
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6 Depleted Uranium
6 Depleted Uranium
Pages 60-69
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From page 60... ...
Most DU is in the chemical form of uranium hexafluoride (DUF6) amounting to 450,000, 198,000, and 56,000 metric tons, respectively, stored at DOE sites near Paducah, Kentucky; Portsmouth, Ohio; and Oak Ridge, Tennessee.
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From page 61... ...
Figure 6.2 Phase diagram for uranium hexafluoride (UFJ shows that the material can sublime convert directly from a solid to a gas under normal atmospheric pressure. Source: http://web.
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From page 62... ...
. The Portsmouth plant will also convert the Oak Ridge DUF6.
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From page 63... ...
Because of uranium's unique chemical and physical properties, the committee believes that this lack of reuse options reflects gaps in current knowledge rather than being an a priori reason for disposing of the material as a waste. There are significant challenges for deciding how the uranium might be disposed if it were declared to be waste.
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From page 64... ...
Geological disposal is required for transuranic waste with alpha activity above 100 nanocuries per gram. If uranium were a transuranic element, it would require disposal in the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant (WIPP)
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From page 65... ...
. Additionally, the uranyl ion can undergo reactions with many organic compounds to form coordination complexes, including the uranyl ion in conjunction with ammonia, urea, and many oxygen donor molecules.The chemistry of the uranium and its oxides is treated in a number of standard works (Burns and Finch, 1999; Katz et al., 1986; Raran, 1994)
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From page 66... ...
Particu larly 2http://web.ead.an l.gov/u ran i u m/au ide/hea Ith. Figure 6.4 Currently available equipment may not be adequate to safely lift severely corroded cylinders.
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From page 67... ...
Reproductive and developmental effects have been reported in single animal studies but no studies have been conducted to determine if they can be confirmed or that they occur in humans. · Hematological effects: Uranium distribution within bone is thought to be such that irradiation of bone marrow and bloodforming cells are limited due to the short range of alpha particles emitted during decay.
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From page 68... ...
Reuse Uranium compounds have been used as colorants in ceramic glazes (e.g.,"Fiestaware"~. DU has beenproposedasadiluent for some spent nuclear fuel, to ensure that stored fuel elements do not achieve criticality, and for excess HEU nuclear fuels to render them less attractive as potential weapons material.
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From page 69... ...
Some possibilities might be mixed carbonate oxide phases resulting from CO2 reactions, uranium oxide/metal ion reactions involving other metal ions that are present in a uranium mine setting, and the study of interracial reactions involving aqueous solutions of metal ions with uranium and its oxides. These studies can include electronic and magnetic state data, since uranium under normal environmental conditions exhibits a 5f2 electronic configuration for U(IV)
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