AW: [ RadSafe ] US DOE sells 200 tons of uranium hexafluoride

Tue Nov 6 08:40:48 CST 2007

 Franz,

Why do you assume this is Depleted UF6 (DUF6)?  The article did not mention
the depletion or enrichment levels.  DOE-owned DUF6 cylinders currently
stored at Portsmouth and Paducah (separate from the USEC-owned cylinders at
these enrichment plants) will be processed to recover 55% HF acid for sale
to chemical industry.  This HF acid be very pure and thus a valuable
"byproduct" that will help recover some cost of the processing.  The DU
oxide powder that is the other "byproduct" from this process will be
compacted and put back into converted cylinders for ultimate disposal
(burial).  Since UF6 is MUCH more hazardous than U oxide (mostly from that
nasty HF reaction product when it comes into contact with humid air) I hope
you can see why this conversion is a good idea given the age and condition
of some of these cylinders.  The plan is to start with the cylinders that
have the highest degree of depleted uranium (typically 0.2% vs the 0.71% for
natural U) and work towards lesser depleted cylinders, just in case there is
demand for the slightly depleted UF6 cylinders (as you can see from the
potential demand described in the news article for UF6).   I am currently
working on the safety basis documents for these DUF6 cylinder storage yards
and conversion facilities, so I am more or less well informed in that regard
and have actually seen these cylinders and processing facilities (currently
approaching completion of construction)...

As far as I could tell, the cylinders described in the article would contain
at least natural or slightly depleted uranium which could be re-enriched, a
good strategy given the current high U prices. DOE also owns a small number
of slightly enriched UF6 cylinders, but most are partially full, and I don't
know if they are part of this deal.  Since the product is already in the UF6
form and ready for enrichment, there is already some saving in processing
from the yellowcake stage (which is the material form used for the commodity
pricing of U), making this a more attractive investment.

Just because a utility purchased the UF6, does not mean they will store it
at their facility or do any processing themselves, just as some individuals
or companies who own contracts on other commodities may never actually
handle them or even physically see them (but just buy or sell the
contracts)...  More likely, the utilities will sell the material or hand it
over to the company that will do the enriching and eventual processing into
fuel to be used in their reactors.  It is a win-win for both DOE and the
utilities, as the former gets rid of cylinders that they no longer need, and
the latter get cheap(er) uranium than they could get on the open market.

Ernesto Faillace, EngD, CHP
Nuclear Engineer and Health Physicist
AREVA/Uranium Dispositioning Services, LLC
Lexington, Kentucky, USA

Message: 1
Date: Fri, 2 Nov 2007 21:41:11 +0100
From: Franz Sch?nhofer <franz.schoenhofer at chello.at>
Subject: AW: [ RadSafe ] US DOE sells 200 tons of uranium hexafluoride
To: "'Sandy Perle'" <sandyfl at cox.net>,  <radsafe at radlab.nl>
Message-ID: <00d801c81d90$ba80d2c0$49197254 at pc1>
Content-Type: text/plain;       charset="iso-8859-1"

Thanks for this answer, though it does not answer my question: What will
those companies do with it? I do not know that these nuclar power utilities
have breeder reactors to breed Pu-239, which is not done anywhere. The only
current use for large amounts of depleted uranium seems to be in manufacture
of penetrating shells. So why should nuclear power utilites buy (depleted)
uranium hexafluoride?

During my recent visit to the US SouthWest I met a person very well esteemed
not only by me, but probably by all of the RADSAFE community and he
described you as a very nice person. This was my opinion until a few years
ago.

Best regards,

Franz

Franz Schoenhofer, PhD
MinRat i.R.
Habicherg. 31/7
A-1160 Wien/Vienna
AUSTRIA

-----Ursprüngliche Nachricht-----
Von: Sandy Perle [mailto:sandyfl at gmail.com] Im Auftrag von Sandy Perle
Gesendet: Freitag, 02. November 2007 19:27
An: 'Franz Schönhofer'; radsafe at radlab.nl
Betreff: RE: [ RadSafe ] US DOE sells 200 tons of uranium hexafluoride

FPL Group, Exelon and Progress Energy are nuclear power utilities.

----------------------------------------------------------------
Sander C. Perle
President
Global Dosimetry Solutions, Inc.
2652 McGaw Avenue
Irvine, CA 92614

Tel: (949) 296-2306 / (888) 437-1714 Extension 2306
Fax:(949) 296-1144

E-Mail: sperle at dosimetry.com
E-Mail: sandyfl at cox.net

Global Dosimetry Website: http://www.dosimetry.com/

-----Original Message-----
From: Franz Schönhofer [mailto:franz.schoenhofer at chello.at]
Sent: Friday, November 02, 2007 11:16 AM
To: 'Sandy Perle'; radsafe at radlab.nl; powernet at hps1.org
Subject: AW: [ RadSafe ] US DOE sells 200 tons of uranium hexafluoride

What will those companies do with it?

Franz Schoenhofer, PhD
MinRat i.R.
Habicherg. 31/7
A-1160 Wien/Vienna
AUSTRIA

-----Ursprüngliche Nachricht-----
Von: radsafe-bounces at radlab.nl [mailto:radsafe-bounces at radlab.nl] Im Auftrag
von Sandy Perle
Gesendet: Montag, 08. Oktober 2007 16:42
An: radsafe at radlab.nl; powernet at hps1.org
Betreff: [ RadSafe ] US DOE sells 200 tons of uranium hexafluoride

US DOE sells 200 tons of uranium hexafluoride

Reuters Oct 4 - The average price for all offers received was $213.48
per kilogram, the DOE said in a release.

Successful buyers included subsidiaries of FPL Group Inc (FPL.N:
Quote, Profile, Research), Exelon Corp (EXC.N: Quote, Profile,
Research) and Progress Energy Inc.(PGN.N: Quote, Profile, Research).

Since peaking at $136 per pound in June, uranium oxide (U3O8), or raw
uranium, used in the manufacture of uranium hexafluoride, now sells
for about $80 per pound.

The DOE sold the uranium in eight separate lots of 100 metric ton (1
lot), 30 metric tons (2 lots), and 7.7 metric tons (5 lots) with
delivery to be made at the Paducah, Kentucky Gaseous Diffusion Plant.
-----------------------------------------
Sander C. Perle
President
Global Dosimetry Solutions, Inc.
2652 McGaw Avenue
Irvine, CA 92614

Tel: (949) 296-2306 / (888) 437-1714  Extension 2306
Fax:(949) 296-1144

E-Mail: sperle at dosimetry.com
E-Mail: sandyfl at cox.net

Global Dosimetry Website: http://www.dosimetry.com/

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