A two-stage scheme is proposed to reduce the concentration of 232,234,236U in regenerated uranium hexafluoride. In the first cascade, waste uranium hexafluoride, whose contaminated stream is taken in the additional product, is directed into the additional feed. The main product stream of the first stage, enriched in 235U, is directed to the feed of the second stage. Its waste purified from 232,234U is diluted to 235U concentration <5%. A computational experiment was performed on the basis of methods for calculating cascades with separation coefficients corresponding to gas centrifuges. It was shown that in terms of 232,234U content the product obtained after dilution meets the requirements of the ASTM C996-15 specifications for the commercial grade uranium hexafluoride. The 236U content in it is several-fold lower than in the enrichment of regenerated uranium hexafluoride without purification.
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Translated from Atomnaya Énergiya, Vol. 129, No. 5, pp. 181–187, November, 2020.
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Palkin, V.A. Dual-Cascade Scheme with Additional Feed and Product Streams for Purification of Regenerated Uranium Hexafluoride from 232,234,236U. At Energy 129, 290–296 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10512-021-00750-7
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10512-021-00750-7