METHOD FOR THE CONTROL OF THE COMPOSITION AND PHYSICAL PROPERTIES OF SOLID URANIUM OXIDES

摘要

The present invention provides a method for varying and controlling the chemical composition and physical properties of the uranium oxide solids produced by the thermal conversion of UF6. The method allows the production of predominantly UO2, U3O8, or UO3 interchangeably from the same reactor simply by controlling the hydrogen and oxygen contents of the feed relative to uranium. The temperature profile of the thermal reactor is established by specifying the preheat of the feed prior to mixing, the feed composition, and the reactor wall temperature to thus vary and control the physical properties of the resulting solids according to the end use of the uranium product.