The first atomic bomb was dropped on Hiroshima in 1945, using Uranium as a power source.The pitchblende is a mixture of several different atomic weights and different levels of radioactivity.To be used in a reactor or bomb, the amount of U isotope must be increased.There are many ways to enrich uranium.
Step 1: Decide what the use of the radioactive material will be.
Most mined U is 0.7 percent, with most of the rest being stable U.The level of U needed to be used effectively depends on the type of reaction the uranium is used for.Most nuclear power plants need to be enriched to a level of 3 to 5 percent U.The CANDU reactor in Canada is designed to use unenriched uranium.Nuclear weapons need to be enriched to 90 percent U.
Step 2: The uranium can be converted to a gas.
Most of the methods for enriching Uranium require the Ore to be converted to a low temperature gas.The uranium oxide gas reacts with the fluorine to make Uf6 in a conversion plant.The gas is used to separate out the U isotope.
Step 3: Enrich the nuclear material.
There are various processes that can be used to enrich uranium.The laser isotope separation process is expected to replace the two most common ones.
Step 4: UO2 can be converted to UF6 gas.
Once enriched, the uranium needs to be converted into a solid form.The 4m (13.12-foot) long rods are made from ceramic pellets encased in metal tubes.
Step 5: UF6 is pumped through the pipelines.
Step 6: The gas can be forced through a porous filter.
The lighter U isotope will diffuse through the membranes faster than the heavier one.
Step 7: Continue the process until you have collected enough U.
The cascade is a result of repeated diffusion.It may take as many as 1,400 passes to get enough U to enrich the uranium.
Step 8: Remove the UF6 gas from liquid form.
Once enriched, the gas is put into a liquid and stored in containers for transport to be made into fuel pellets.The process is being phased out because of the amount of passes required.Only one gaseous diffusion enrichment plant remains in the United States.
Step 9: A number of high-speed rotating cylinders are assembled.
The cylinders are used for the Centrifuges.Both series and parallel layouts are used to assemble the centrifuges.
Step 10: The UF6 gas can be piped into the centrifuges.
The heavier U-bearing gas is sent to the cylinder wall by the centripetal acceleration.
Step 11: The gases are separated.
Step 12: Reprocess the separated gases in different ways.
The U-rich gases are sent to a different location to be used to extract more U from the rest of the gas.This allows the process to extract more U than the gaseous process can.The gas centrifuge process was first developed in the 1940s but was not used much until the 1960s, when its lower energy requirements for producing enriched uranium became important.Russia has four such plants, Japan and China have two, the United Kingdom and the Netherlands have one, and Germany has one.
Step 13: A series of narrow cylinders can be built.
Step 14: UF6 gas can be injected into cylinders at high speed.
The same kind of separation between U and U is achieved when the gas is blown into the cylinders in such a way that it spins in cyclonic fashion.A method of injecting gas into a cylinder is being developed in South Africa.It is being tested with light isotopes.
Step 15: Under pressure,liquefy the UF6 gas.
Step 16: You can make a pair of pipes.
The pipes should be tall to allow more separation of the U and U isotopes.
Step 17: A jacket of liquid water surrounds the pipes.
The outer pipe will be cooled by this.
Step 18: The liquid is between the pipes.
Step 19: The steam can be used to heat the inner pipe.
The hotter the inner pipe, the heavier the U isotope will be and the cooler the outer pipe.In 1940, this process was investigated as part of the Manhattan Project, but was abandoned while still in an early stage of development.
Step 20: Ionize the UF6 gas.
Step 21: The gas can be passed through a magnetic field.
Step 22: The trails they leave when they pass through the magnetic field are separated.
Ions of U leave trails that curve differently.These ion can be isolated and used for enrichment.This method was used in Iraq's nuclear weapons program in 1992 and was also used for the atomic bomb dropped on Hiroshima in 1945.It's impractical for large-scale enrichment programs because it requires 10 times more energy.
Step 23: A laser can be set to a specific color.
The laser light needs to be in a specific wavelength.The U atoms will not be targeted by this wavelength.
Step 24: There is a laser light on the uranium.
Although most of the laser processes do, you don't have to use uranium hexafluoride gas.It is possible to use an alloy of iron and uranium as the source of the radioactive material.
Step 25: Use excited electrons to extract the atoms.