IAEA Sources of Radiation Nuclear Fuel Cycle - Mining and Milling Day 4 – Lecture 5 (2) 1.
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IAEA Sources of Radiation Nuclear Fuel Cycle - Mining and Milling Day 4 – Lecture 5 (2) 1
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Transcript of IAEA Sources of Radiation Nuclear Fuel Cycle - Mining and Milling Day 4 – Lecture 5 (2) 1.
IAEA 1
Sources of Radiation
Nuclear Fuel Cycle - Mining and Milling
Day 4 – Lecture 5 (2)
IAEA
OPEN CUT MINEORE STOCKPILE
CRUSHERS
BALL
MILLWATERADDED
GRINDS TO AFINE POWDERTHICKENER
THICKENER
THICKENER
ACIDADDED
LEACHINGTANKS SAND
FILTER SOLVENTEXTRACTION
URANIUMPRECIPITATION
TANK
CENTRIFUGE
DRYERU3O8U3O8
TOMARKET
WASTE TOTAILINGS DAM
URANIUM RICH SOLUTION
Mining
IAEA 3
Mining Techniques
Excavation
Open Pit Underground Mines
In Situ Leaching
IAEA 4
Open Pit (Surface) Mining
IAEA 5
Underground Mines
Typically greater than 120 m deep .. Ventilation issues
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Uranium Ore
Uranium ore sand
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In Situ Leach
InjectionWell Head
Production Facility
Injection Well Field
in situ leaching (ISL), where oxygenated groundwater is circulated through a very porous ore body to dissolve the uranium and bring it to the surface
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Method World Production (%)
Underground 28Open Pit 20In Situ Leach (ISL) 45By-Product 7
Total 100
Uranium Mining Methods
Source:World Nuclear Association (WNA)http://www.world-nuclear.org/info/Nuclear-Fuel-Cycle/Mining-of-Uranium/World-Uranium-Mining-Production/
IAEA 9
Uranium Mine Production Country 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012
Kazakhstan 4357 5279 6637 8521 14020 17803 19451 21317
Canada 11628 9862 9476 9000 10173 9783 9145 8999Australia 9516 7593 8611 8430 7982 5900 5983 6991
Niger (est) 3093 3434 3153 3032 3243 4198 4351 4667
Namibia 3147 3067 2879 4366 4626 4496 3258 4495Russia 3431 3262 3413 3521 3564 3562 2993 2872
Uzbekistan 2300 2260 2320 2338 2429 2400 2500 2400
USA 1039 1672 1654 1430 1453 1660 1537 1596
China (est) 750 750 712 769 750 827 885 1500
Malawi 104 670 846 1101
Ukraine (est) 800 800 846 800 840 850 890 960
South Africa 674 534 539 655 563 583 582 465
India (est) 230 177 270 271 290 400 400 385
Brazil 110 190 299 330 345 148 265 231Czech
Republic 408 359 306 263 258 254 229 228
Romania (est) 90 90 77 77 75 77 77 90
Germany 94 65 41 0 0 8 51 50
Pakistan (est) 45 45 45 45 50 45 45 45
France 7 5 4 5 8 7 6 3
total world 41 719 39 444 41 282 43 764 50 772 53 671 53 493 58 394
tonnes U3O8 49 199 46 516 48 683 51 611 59 875 63 295 63 084 68 864
percentage of world demand* 65% 63% 64% 68% 78% 78% 85% 86%
Source:World Nuclear Association (WNA)http://www.world-nuclear.org/info/Nuclear-Fuel-Cycle/Mining-of-Uranium/World-Uranium-Mining-Production/
IAEA 10
The largest-producing uranium mines in 2011
Mine Country Main owner Type Production (tU) % of world
McArthur River Canada Cameco underground 7686 14
Olympic Dam Australia BHP Billitonby-product/
underground3353 6
Arlit Niger Somair/ Areva open pit 2726 5
Tortkuduk Kazakhstan Katco JV/ Areva ISL 2608 5
Ranger Australia ERA (Rio Tinto 68%) open pit 2240 4
Kraznokamensk Russia ARMZ underground 2191 4
Budenovskoye 2 KazakhstanKaratau
JV/Kazatomprom-Uranium One
ISL 2175 4
Rossing Namibia Rio Tinto (69%) open pit 1822 3
Inkai Kazakhstan Inkai JV/Cameco ISL 1602 3
South Inkai KazakhstanBetpak Dala JV/
Uranium OneISL 1548 3
Top 10 total 27,951 52%
Source:World Nuclear Association (WNA)http://www.world-nuclear.org/info/nuclear-fuel-cycle/mining-of-uranium/uranium-mining-overview/
IAEA
Milling
OPEN CUT MINEORE STOCKPILE
CRUSHERS
BALL
MILLWATERADDED
GRINDS TO AFINE POWDERTHICKENER
THICKENER
THICKENER
ACIDADDED
LEACHINGTANKS SAND
FILTER SOLVENTEXTRACTION
URANIUMPRECIPITATION
TANK
CENTRIFUGE
DRYERU3O8U3O8
TOMARKET
WASTE TOTAILINGS DAM
URANIUM RICH SOLUTION
Milling, which is generally carried out close to a uranium mine, extracts the uranium from the ore.
IAEA 12
Ore Processing
At the mill the ore is crushed and ground to a fine slurry.
The uranium is extracted from the crushed and ground‑up ore by leaching, in which either a strong acid or a strong alkaline solution is used to dissolve the uranium from the waste rock.
Uranium is then recovered from solution and precipitated as uranium oxide (U308) concentrate sometimes known as "yellowcake"
IAEA 13
Ore Processing
IAEA 14
Yellowcake
Yellowcake is shipped from the mills in a granular solid form .
The mixture of uranium oxides that is not really yellow but almost black olive green.
'yellowcake' generally contains more than 80% uranium. The original ore may contains as little as 0.1% uranium.
About 200 tonnes of U3O8 is required to keep a large (1000 MWe) nuclear power reactor generating electricity for one year.
IAEA 15
Yellowcake
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Uranium Mill Tailings
IAEA 17
Ore dust and radon emissions from ore crushing, sorting, and storage
Yellowcake dust from drying and packaging area
Windblown particulates and radon emission from the tailings disposal area
Radiological Hazards of U Milling
IAEA 18
Reference
World Nuclear Association (WNA)
http://www.world-nuclear.org/info/Nuclear-Fuel- Cycle/Mining-of-Uranium/World-Uranium-Mining-Production/ World Nuclear Association (WNA)
http://www.world-nuclear.org/info/nuclear-fuel-cycle/mining-of-uranium/uranium-mining-overview/
International Atomic Energy Agency, Postgraduate Educational Course in Radiation Protection and the Safety of Radiation Sources (PGEC), Training Course Series 18, IAEA, Vienna (2002)
