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Uranium dioxide or uranium(IV) oxide (UO 2), also known as urania or uranous oxide, is an oxide of uranium, and is a black, radioactive, crystalline powder that naturally occurs in the mineral uraninite. It is used in nuclear fuel rods in nuclear reactors. A mixture of uranium and plutonium dioxides is used as MOX fuel.
Uranium dioxide is the form in which uranium is most commonly used as a nuclear reactor fuel. [3] At ambient temperatures, UO 2 will gradually convert to U 3 O 8. Because of their stability, uranium oxides are generally considered the preferred chemical form for storage or disposal. [3]
The metal uranium forms several oxides: Uranium dioxide or uranium(IV) oxide (UO 2, the mineral uraninite or pitchblende) Diuranium pentoxide or uranium(V) oxide (U 2 O 5) Uranium trioxide or uranium(VI) oxide (UO 3) Triuranium octoxide (U 3 O 8), the most stable uranium oxide; yellowcake typically contains 70 to 90 percent triuranium octoxide)
Uranyl oxalate (UO 2 C 2 O 4) is a pale yellow powdered uranyl salt. It is often encountered in industrial nuclear processes at both the front and back-end of the nuclear fuel cycle.
Uranium is a chemical element with the symbol U and atomic number 92. It is a silvery-grey metal in the actinide series of the periodic table. A uranium atom has 92 protons and 92 electrons, of which 6 are valence electrons. Uranium radioactively decays, usually by emitting an alpha particle.
The compounds identified in yellowcakes include uranyl hydroxide, uranyl sulfate, sodium para-uranate, and uranyl peroxide, along with various uranium oxides. Modern yellowcake typically contains 70% to 90% triuranium octoxide (U 3 O 8) by weight. Other oxides such as uranium dioxide (UO 2) and uranium trioxide (UO 3) exist. [4]
Ammonium uranyl carbonate (UO 2 CO 3 ·2(NH 4) 2 CO 3) is known in the uranium processing industry as AUC [2] and is also called uranyl ammonium carbonate.This compound is important as a component in the conversion process of uranium hexafluoride (UF 6) to uranium dioxide (UO 2). [3]
The authors report that a layer of U 3 O 7 was present on the uranium dioxide surface during this induction time. They report that 3 to 8% of the krypton-85 was released, and that much less of the ruthenium (0.5%) and caesium (2.6 x 10 −3 %) occurred during the oxidation of the uranium dioxide. [5]