Study of UO2 production through ammonium diuranate

One of the largest reserve of uranium is in Brazil, wherefore, it is needed to have the complete domain of the techniques to allow his use as fuel for the power electric generation, because most of the commercial reactors of the world uses UO2 in the form of high density pellets. In this work, was demonstrated the technical viability of UO2 powders production through ammonium diuranate (ADU), in bench scale. This material is used for the production UF4 by aqueous process and for the conversion into ceramic-grade UO2. The influence of several parameters used in the precipitation of ammonium diuranate (ADU) were also studied, such as, uranium concentration in UO2 (NO3)2 solution, pH, temperature and the addition rate of NH4 OH solution, on the UO2 sinterability. The characterization of the products was determined through the analyses of agglomeration size, tap density, specific surface area and mean particle size. (author)