The article explains why uranium is enriched, what it is, where it is mined, its applications and what the enrichment process consists of.
Beginning of the atomic era
Such a substance as uranium has been known to people since ancient times. But unlike our time, they used it only to create a special glaze for ceramics and some types of paint. For this, natural uranium oxide was used, the deposits of which can be found in various quantities on almost all continents of the world.
Much later, chemists also became interested in this element. So, in 1789, the German scientist Martin Klaproth managed to obtain uranium oxide, which in its parameters was similar to a metal, but it was not. And only in 1840, the French chemist Peligot synthesized real uranium - a heavy, silvery and radioactive metal, which Dmitri Mendeleev included in his table of periodic elements. So why enrich uranium and how does it happen?
Our time
In fact, natural uranium ore is not much different from the rest. These are massive rusty cobblestones that are mined in the mines in the most common way - they blow up the layersdeposits and transported to the surface for further processing. The fact is that this natural substance contains only 0.72% of the U235 isotope. This is not enough for use in reactors or weapons, and then after sorting it is transferred to a gaseous state and begin to enrich uranium.
In general, there are many methods of this process, but the most promising and used in Russia is gas centrifugation.
A gaseous compound of uranium is pumped into special installations, after which they are spun up to tremendous speeds and heavier molecules are separated from lighter ones and grouped at the walls of the drum.
Then these fractions are separated and one of them is converted into uranium dioxide - a dense and solid substance, which is then packed into a kind of "tablets" and fired in a furnace. This is precisely why uranium is to be enriched, since the percentage of U235 isotope is an order of magnitude higher in the output, and it can be used both in reactors and in weapons systems.
Export
To give a simplified example, the enrichment of this element is essentially somewhat reminiscent of the production of iron - in its original, natural form, these are worthless pieces of ore, which are then turned into strong steel by various processing.
Also in the press you can often hear the fact that many less developed countries compared to the same Russia often wonder how to make enriched uranium?
The fact is that this process, if we give an example with gascentrifugation is very complex, and not everyone can build such installations. Moreover, we need not one single thing, but a whole cascade of them. In order to understand their technical level, it is worth saying that these "drums" rotate at a speed of 1500 revolutions per minute and without stopping. Record - 30 years! Therefore, some countries buy enriched uranium from Russia.
Where is uranium mined in Russia?
93% of uranium ore is mined in Transbaikalia, near the city of Krasnokamensk. And enriched uranium in Russia is produced by OAO TVEL.
Application
The process of turning into a high-performance compound has been sorted out, but why is it needed? Let's analyze the two most basic directions.
First, of course, nuclear reactors. They provide electricity to entire cities, power autonomous spacecraft to explore the far corners of our solar system, are on submarines, icebreakers, research ships.
Second, these are weapons of mass destruction. The truth is worth clarifying - it is uranium in bombs that has not been used for a long time, it was replaced by weapons-grade plutonium. It is mined through special irradiation in low-enriched uranium reactors.
Myths and interesting facts
Often in the years of the USSR, there was an opinion that especially dangerous criminals or “enemies of the people” were sent to uranium mines so that they would atone for their guilt with their fleeting labor. And of course, they did not stay there for a long time due to radiation.
Not really. No speci althere is no danger in working at such a mine, natural ore is slightly radioactive, and a person, if he is placed without getting out into the mine, will die more likely from a lack of sun and fresh air than radiation sickness.
Nevertheless, the working conditions of the workers are gentle, only 5 hours a day, and many work there for generations, debunking the myth of the terrible destructiveness of such production.
And from depleted uranium, by the way, make the cores of weapons shells. The fact is that uranium is much heavier and stronger than lead, as a result of which such damaging elements are more effective, and even tend to ignite as a result of destruction, after mechanical impact on them.
So we figured out why enriched uranium is needed, where it is used and for what purpose.
