New Procedure for Wet Crude Yellowcake Purification

Abstract

The ability of sodium nitrate/urea mixture in the presence of tetrahydrofuran to enhance the purity of uranium produced from crude yellowcake with the subsequent preparation of different forms of highly pure uranium oxides (UO₄·4H₂O, U₃O₈, UO₃) was examined. The methods of X-ray fluorescence, X-ray diffraction, and energy-dispersive X-ray analysis and inductively coupled plasma optical emission spectrometry were used. The highest uranium purity was reached using 1 M NaNO₃ + 1 or 2 M urea. The uranium loss from the crude yellowcake was insignificant.