Westinghouse Electric Corporation

Irving E Knudsen

David L Shuck

Clinton C Randall

A spouted bed blender apparatus is disclosed that is suitable for mixing and homogenizing two or more types of nuclear powders in preparation for the subsequent manufacture of nuclear fuel pellets.

Spouted bed blender apparatus

A three stage fluidized bed process for converting uranium hexafluoride (UF.sub.6) to a ceramic-grade uranium dioxide (UO.sub.2) powder by first, reacting hydrogen and steam with UF.sub.6 in a first fluidized bed in a temperature range of from about 475.degree. to 600.degree. C to form solid intermediate products UO.sub.2 F.sub.2 and U.sub.3 O.sub.8 ; second, reacting hydrogen and steam with the intermediate products in a second fluidized bed at a temperature ranging from about 575.degree. to about 675.degree. C to produce a second group of intermediate products including UO.sub.2 F.sub.2, U.sub.3 O.sub.8, and UO.sub.2 ; and, third, reacting hydrogen and steam with the second group of intermediate products in a third fluidized bed at a temperature of 575.degree. to 675.degree. C to produce ceramic grade UO.sub.2 powder having low residual content of fluorides and other foreign materials.

Production of uranium dioxide

A process for converting uranium hexafluoride (UF.sub.6) to uranium dioxide (UO.sub.2) of a relatively large particle size in a fluidized bed reactor by mixing uranium hexafluoride with a mixture of steam and hydrogen and by preliminary reacting in an ejector gaseous uranium hexafluoride with steam and hydrogen to form a mixture of uranium and oxide and uranium oxyfluoride seed particles of varying sizes, separating the larger particles from the smaller particles in a cyclone separator, recycling the smaller seed particles through the ejector to increase their size, and introducing the larger seed particles from the cyclone separator into a fluidized bed reactor where the seed particles serve as nuclei on which coarser particles of uranium dioxide are formed.

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Murrysville, PA, United States of America

Irving E Knudsen