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Depleted uranium is a mixture of uranium isotopes with reduced concentration of uranium-235 isotope, which is an unstable isotope, whose decay energy is used in uranium fuel or warheads. To compare: natural (produced) uranium contains, as a rule, 0.7% of uranium-235. Almost all the rest is uranium 238 isotope. Fresh uranium fuel for nuclear power plants contains uranium-235 isotope enriched up to 5%. Uranium contents for nuclear warheads are enriched with uranium-235, starting from 20%.
In this article depleted uranium means the mixture of uranium isotopes with concentration of uranium-235 less than its natural level (0.7%), which is produced as a result of reprocessing (enrichment) of natural uranium – so called waste uranium hexafluoride UF6.
Besides hexafluoride, depleted uranium can be in the form of tetrafluoride, oxides and metals. Almost all depleted uranium is stored in the form of hexafluoride.
Uranium hexafluoride is crystalline matter, which transforms into gas under +56.4C. Uranium hexafluoride is an active chemical, which reacts with water, including atmospheric moisture. While interacting with water, etching acid and compound of and fluoride are produced.
From the point of view of health protection, uranium hexafluoride, as well as any other uranium containing chemicals, is dangerous – being inside a body, it causes radiation impact as an alpha emitter. Etching acid is dangerous while being in contact with skin. Being inhaled, acid fumes damage lungs and then kidney in the course of time.
Some experts compare the danger of uranium for the environment to the lead danger.
Because wide commercial use of waste uranium hexafluoride is impossible, there are great amounts of waste uranium hexafluoride accumulated worldwide. For example, in the U.S. there are 740 thousand tons of waste uranium hexafluoride. In Russia the total amount of waste uranium hexafluoride is hundreds of thousands of tons.
The stocks of waste uranium hexafluoride are growing steadily.
So far there is no industrial scheme of complete utilization of UF6. For safety purposes the first stage of utilization of waste uranium hexafluoride is to transform it into a safe form – uranium oxide. Produced fluorine can be used to produce etching acid, which is used for industrial purposes.
Produced uranium oxide is either to be disposed as radioactive waste, or it can be used in the nuclear energy industry in fast neutron reactors for plutonium production. There are also other commercial ways to use depleted uranium oxide, but they are not widely spread.
The decision about a method to utilize uranium depends on if a country considers depleted uranium as radioactive waste or as material for further use.
For example, the U.S. depleted uranium had been till recently regarded as material for further use. However in 2005 this was changed and now depleted uranium oxide can be disposed in the U.S.
In the Russian Federation heads of the Russian Atomic Energy Agency regard waste uranium hexafluoride as valuable materials not liable to disposal. According to, operations have been started to construct a plant to convert waste uranium hexafluoride to the safe form – uranium oxide. Produced uranium oxides are projected for a long term storage and are going to be used in future technologies of fast neutron reactors to produce plutonium. According to other sources, before converting waste uranium hexafluoride to oxide, it is planned to be stored and additionally enriched with uranium-235 in order to produce raw uranium of natural quality.
In Russia there are no established technologies to convert UF6 to uranium oxide, while the concept of waste uranium hexafluoride management was only endorsed in 2001.
In this article depleted uranium means the mixture of uranium isotopes with concentration of uranium-235 less than its natural level (0.7%), which is produced as a result of reprocessing (enrichment) of natural uranium – so called waste uranium hexafluoride UF6.
Besides hexafluoride, depleted uranium can be in the form of tetrafluoride, oxides and metals. Almost all depleted uranium is stored in the form of hexafluoride.
Uranium hexafluoride is crystalline matter, which transforms into gas under +56.4C. Uranium hexafluoride is an active chemical, which reacts with water, including atmospheric moisture. While interacting with water, etching acid and compound of and fluoride are produced.
From the point of view of health protection, uranium hexafluoride, as well as any other uranium containing chemicals, is dangerous – being inside a body, it causes radiation impact as an alpha emitter. Etching acid is dangerous while being in contact with skin. Being inhaled, acid fumes damage lungs and then kidney in the course of time.
Some experts compare the danger of uranium for the environment to the lead danger.
Because wide commercial use of waste uranium hexafluoride is impossible, there are great amounts of waste uranium hexafluoride accumulated worldwide. For example, in the U.S. there are 740 thousand tons of waste uranium hexafluoride. In Russia the total amount of waste uranium hexafluoride is hundreds of thousands of tons.
The stocks of waste uranium hexafluoride are growing steadily.
So far there is no industrial scheme of complete utilization of UF6. For safety purposes the first stage of utilization of waste uranium hexafluoride is to transform it into a safe form – uranium oxide. Produced fluorine can be used to produce etching acid, which is used for industrial purposes.
Produced uranium oxide is either to be disposed as radioactive waste, or it can be used in the nuclear energy industry in fast neutron reactors for plutonium production. There are also other commercial ways to use depleted uranium oxide, but they are not widely spread.
The decision about a method to utilize uranium depends on if a country considers depleted uranium as radioactive waste or as material for further use.
For example, the U.S. depleted uranium had been till recently regarded as material for further use. However in 2005 this was changed and now depleted uranium oxide can be disposed in the U.S.
In the Russian Federation heads of the Russian Atomic Energy Agency regard waste uranium hexafluoride as valuable materials not liable to disposal. According to, operations have been started to construct a plant to convert waste uranium hexafluoride to the safe form – uranium oxide. Produced uranium oxides are projected for a long term storage and are going to be used in future technologies of fast neutron reactors to produce plutonium. According to other sources, before converting waste uranium hexafluoride to oxide, it is planned to be stored and additionally enriched with uranium-235 in order to produce raw uranium of natural quality.
In Russia there are no established technologies to convert UF6 to uranium oxide, while the concept of waste uranium hexafluoride management was only endorsed in 2001.
