Nuclear Fuel Cycle (3)

Other steps in nuclear fuel cycle is Milling...

Uranium milling is the process of extracting uranium from mined ore. The ore is crushed into sand size particles and the uranium is leached out. The uranium then is precipitated out of the leaching solution and dewatered, dried, and packaged. Through the extraction process, uranium is concentrated into a product referred to as "yellowcake." In situ leaching is a combined mining and milling operation.

The picture show the milling process:

     1. Mined ore is crushed

     2. Crushed ore ground into fine sand

     3. Slurry pumped into leach tanks

     4. Acid dissolves uranium

     5. Uranium filtered from waste

     6. Purified & Concentrated

     7. Uranium extraction

     8. Moisture Removed

Yellowcake is a kind of uranium concentrate powder obtained from leach solutions, in an intermediate step in the processing of uranium ores. Yellowcake concentrates are prepared by various extraction and refining methods, depending on the types of ores. Yellowcake is used in the preparation of uranium fuel for nuclear reactors, for which it is smelted into purified UO₂ for use in fuel rods for pressurized heavy-water reactors and other systems that use natural unenriched uranium.