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FRENDE
6/1/2009

COMURHEX II: meeting tomorrow’s challenges

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AREVA will be building two new uranium conversion unites on the sites of Tricastin and Malvési. Called on to replace the existing installations, they will allow the group to increase its production and to respond to market developments. 3D tour and view of the project.

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  • COMURHEX II: meeting tomorrow’s challenges

    AREVA will be building two new uranium conversion unites on the sites of Tricastin and Malvési. Called on to replace the existing installations, they will allow the group to increase its production and to respond to market developments. 3D tour and view of the project.

  • 6/1/2009 - 675199.02:48:05.4775808 min

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Operations: uranium chemistry

Drying of concentrate on a belt filter in the uranyl nitrate conversion shop

AREVA Pierrelatte specializes in uranium chemistry. Its main operations include treating depleted uranium, processing uranium from used fuel and preparing uranium for MOX fuel production.

At the heart of the business, uranium chemistry

The AREVA Pierrelatte site is dedicated to operations related to uranium chemistry.

Converting depleted uranium from enrichment operations

The uranium enrichment process generates:

  • uranium hexafluoride enriched in uranium-235, in the form of UF6, which can be used in fuel,
  • depleted uranium hexafluoride.

Defluorination converts depleted UF6 into uranium oxide (U3O8). In this form, uranium can be stored under optimal safety conditions in an environmentally friendly way, pending subsequent reuse. U3O8 is fire resistant, insoluble in water, non-corrosive and chemically stable—well suited to safely.

This transformation also produces marketable hydrofluoric acid

Converting uranium from used nuclear fuel

When used fuel is removed from a reactor, it still contains 95% uranium. After purification at AREVA La Hague, this material arrives at AREVA Pierrelatte in the form of uranyl nitrate. Here, it is transformed into stable uranium oxide (U3O8).

The recovery of used nuclear fuel provides the group’s customers (uranium owners) with a solution that ensures accessible energy capital. At their request, U3O8 can be enriched at the Georges Besse II plant and reused in the production of nuclear reactor fuel.

AREVA’s defluorination plant at Pierrelatte is the only facility in the world converting depleted UF6 into uranium oxide at an industrial scale.

Producing uranium oxide for MOX fuel

From uranium oxide (U3O8), AREVA Pierrelatte produces depleted uranium oxide (UO2), which is used in the production of MOX fuel. MOX is a mixture of plutonium oxide from the treatment of used fuel, and uranium oxide. This type of fuel conserves natural uranium resources and reduces the toxicity of final waste.

...and other operations

The following services are also offered:

  • Maintaining uranium shipping containers
  • Dismantling gaseous diffusion plants
  • Services for AREVA Tricastin industries: safety, medical services, laboratory, nuclear waste treatment.