Uranium Recovery and Recycling with Eldorado

Abstract

Eldorado Resources Ltd. is a fully- integrated uranium company which mines, mills, refines and converts uranium for use by electric utilities. This paper describes the successful recovery of uranium from "scrap" materials generated at the Fuel Services Division of Eldorado Resources Ltd., Port Hope, Ontario.

The production of UF₆ and UO₂ in Port Hope generates a number of scrap products that cannot be recycled directly to the conversion facilities due to high concentrations of impurities, unacceptable physical properties and potential corrosion problems. This has resulted in the storage of these materials in drums at the operating site until such time that a recycle route is established.

Eldorado commenced a program in recent years to use the scrap materials within the company thereby recovering economic values and eliminating potential environmental problems from continued storage or disposal. This paper describes the program, the laboratory and process development and the implementation of the recycle processes using two successful examples. These are:

i) the recycling of a potassium diuranate (KOU) scrap in the closed Port Hope U0₃ plant, (which was specifically modified for this task), and

ii) the recycling of a uranium fluoride ash (filter ash) into the Rabbit Lake mill process.