FROM NOTHING TO

MEGATONS

FROM EXTRACTION OF URANIUM TO

ITS USE IN BOMB
 URANIUM
 Uranium is a silvery-gray
metallic, radioactive chemical
element.

 The most common isotopes

in natural uranium are U238
(99.27%) and U235 (0.72%)

 All uranium isotopes

present in natural uranium
are radioactive and U235 is
fissile
ORIGIN OF URANIUM
 According to the theories developed, the Earth's
uranium was produced in one or more supernovae.

 Multiple supernovae from over 6 billion to about 200

million years ago were involved.

 The present-day abundance of uranium in the 'depleted'

mantle exposed on the ocean floor is about 0.004 ppm.
The continental crust, on the other hand, is relatively
enriched in uranium at some 1.4 ppm.
 History of Uranium
 Uranium was found in 1789 by the German chemist
Martin Heinrich Klaproth in his laboratory in Berlin.

 It was named after the planet Uranus which

was discovered eight years earlier

 The French professor Eugène in Paris in 1841

was the first who isolated a sample of Uranium.

 1896 Antoine Becquerel discovered the concept

of radioactivity
 Enrico Fermi in 1934
discovered that
bombarding uranium
produced emission of
beta rays.

 December 2, 1942, team

led by Enrico Fermi was
able to produce the first
artificial nuclear chain
reaction.
URANIUM DEPOSITS
 It can be found almost everywhere in rock, soil, rivers, and
oceans.

 largest deposits found in Australia, Kazakhstan and

Canada.

 High-grade deposits are only found in the Athabasca

Basin region of Canada.

 Uranium deposits are generally classified based on host

rocks, structural setting and mineralogy of the deposit.
URANIUM DEPOSITS AND THEIR
TYPES
 Unconformity-related deposits
 Sandstone deposits
 Quartz-pebble conglomerate deposits
 Vein deposits
 Breccia complex deposits
 Intrusive deposits
 Phosphorite deposits
 Collapse breccia pipe deposits
 Volcanic deposits
 Surficial deposits
 Metasomatite deposits
 Metamorphic deposits
 Lignite
 Black shale deposits

URANIUM DEPOSITS CLASSIFICATION
Mary Kathleen uranium mine Mt. Painter Inlier, South Australia

(enriched in U, Cu, Th ) (Uranium-rich breccia )

Uranium ore (pitchblende in dolomite) A uranium mine, near Moab, Utah
(Vein type deposits) (Sandstone and mudstone)
Chalcopyrite-rich ore specimen Ranger 3 open pit,Australia
(Olympic dam) (Unconformity-related deposits)
TOP 10 MINES
URANIUM RESERVES OF PAKSITAN

 Uranium deposits occurrences are reported from

the Dera Ghazi Khan District, Sulaiman
Range, Bannu Basin, and Issa Khel, Mianwali
District, in central Pakistan, and from the
Kirthar Range in south Pakistan.

 Number of radioactive localities associated with

alkaline igneous rocks, pegmatites, and schists
have been discovered in the mountainous
northern part of Pakistan.
D.G KHAN RESERVES
 The Dera Ghazi Khan District lies in the
Sulaiman Range.

 Sandstone-type U deposits confined to a single

horizon near the base of the Middle Siwalik
Member in a N-S strip.

 Reported deposits include Baghal Chur ,

Rakuchur, Rakhi Munh, Nangar Nai, Kaha
Nalo and Rajanpur.
Regional Geological Setting of
Mineralization
 Rocks from Jurassic to Pleistocene age
occur in the Sulaiman physiographic
province, the central core of which is
marked by mafic and ultramafic intrusions.

 The Middle Miocene to Lower Pleistocene

Siwalik group is exposed in the Sulaiman
range as a narrow north-south trending belt.
 Upper Siwalik Division, 1800–2400 m
thick.

 Middle Siwalik Division, 1800–2400 m

thick

 Lower Siwalik Division, 1500 m thick

 At a cutoff grade of 0.03% U, the ore had
grades of 0.1% U as maximum.

 By 1976 uranium resources of Pakistan

were calculated at 150000t of ore at a
grade of 0.12% U, containing 181t U
based on a cutoff grade of 0.09% U.
Baghal Chur
 The blanket sandstone-type Baghal Chur deposit
lies about 40 km NNW of Dera Ghazi Khan.

 The deposit was mined from 1971 to 1999 by

conventional methods and is depleted.

 Strata dip with 5–10° at Baghal Chur at other U

deposits in the district dips approach 50–60°
Qabul Khel, Surghar Range
 Qabul Khel, named after a small nearby village, is
located in the southern Surghar Range.

 A number of small ore bodies were explored in the early

1980s.

 At the deposit, the sandstone beds are 40–60 m and the

intercalated shales 10–15 m thick

 Coffinite and pitchblende are the principal U minerals.

The Nuclear Fuel Cycle
Uranium Mining and Milling
 EXTRACTION METHODS

 Open pit

 Underground
uranium mining
 Heap leaching

 In-situ leaching
WORLD URANIUM PRODUCTION
BY MINING METHODS USED
Yellow Cake

Final Product of Milling Step – 70 to 80 % uranium

NUCLEAR REACTORS
 Nuclear reactor is a
device to initiate,
control and sustain
a nuclear chain
reaction.

 Classified on
number of factors.
 REACTORS TYPES
 Boiling Water Reactors
(BWR).

 Pressurized Water
Reactor (PWR)
 Candu reactor

 Fast Breeder
Reactor (FBR)
Conversion, Enrichment and
Fuel Fabrication
Natural Uranium

U only fissile nuclide – only 1 atom of

235 235
U in 140 atoms of 238U
Enrichment
 A number of enrichment processes have been demonstrated
in the laboratory
 Only two, the gaseous diffusion process and the centrifuge
process, are operating on a commercial scale
 In both of these, UF6 gas is used as the feed material
 Molecules of UF6 with U-235 atoms are about one percent
lighter than the rest, and this difference in mass is the basis
of both processes
 Large commercial enrichment plants are in operation in
France, Germany, Netherlands, UK, USA, and Russia,
with smaller plants elsewhere
Enrichment: UF6 Feed Container
Enrichment: Centrifuge Process
 Vacuum tubes, each containing
a rotor one to two metres long
and 15-20 cm diameter.

 Heavier molecules with U-238

increase in concentration
towards the cylinder's outer wall

 There is a corresponding
increase in concentration of U-
235 molecules near the centre.

 Enriched gas forms part of the

feed for the next stages,
depleted UF6 gas goes back to
the previous stage (cascade)
Enrichment: Centrifuge Process
CENTRIFUGE DESIGN
Enrichment: Gaseous Diffusion
Process
 Involves forcing UF6 under pressure through a porous
membranes

 As U235 molecules are lighter than the U238 molecules they move
faster and have a slightly better chance of passing through the
pores in the membrane

 The UF6 which diffuses through the membrane is thus slightly

enriched, while the gas which did not pass through is depleted in
U235

 Enriched UF6 is withdrawn from one end of the cascade and

depleted UF6 is removed at the other end

 The gas must be processed through some 1400 stages to obtain

a product with a concentration of 3% to 4% U235
Electromagnetic Isotope Separation
(EMIS)
 Ions of U238 and U235
are separated because
they describe arcs of
different radii when they
move through a magnetic
field.

 A production-scale mass
spectrometer named the
Calutron was developed
during World War II that
provided some of the
U235 used for the Little
Boy
 Aerodynamic enrichment
processes
 Aerodynamic
enrichment processes
include the Becker
jet nozzle
techniques.

 High proportion of
carrier gas required
in relation to UF6.
 Conversion and
Nuclear Fuel Fabrication
 UF6, in solid form in containers, is heated to gaseous
form, and the UF6 gas is chemically processed to form
LEU uranium dioxide (UO2) powder
 this powder is then pressed into pellets, sintered into
ceramic form (fuel pellets)
 pellets are then loaded into Zircaloy tubes that are
afterwards hermetically closed (fuel rods)
 rods are constructed into fuel assemblies
 fuel assemblies are made with different dimensions
and number of fuel rods, depending on the type reactor
UO2, Pellets and Fuel Assembly
Fuel Rods
 FISSION AND FUSION
 In nuclear physics
and nuclear
chemistry, nuclear
fission is a nuclear
reaction in which the
nucleus of an atom
splits into smaller
parts.
NUCLEAR FUSION

 nuclear fusion is the

process by which
multiple atomic nuclei
join together to form a
single heavier
nucleus.
HYBIRD FUSION
 Hybrid nuclear fusion is
the use of a combination
of nuclear fusion and
fission processes to
generate power.

 The goal is to use fuel

pellets of deuterium and
tritium
NUCLEAR SITES OF PAKISTAN
USES OF URANIUM IN MILITARY
WEAPON GRADE URANIUM
 Highly enriched
uranium more than
84%

 Special centrifuge
technique is used to
get such a uranium
ATOMIC BOMB STRUCTURE
KHAN’s Network and Threat To
OUR NUCLEAR ARSENAL
YOUR QUESTIONS