Gaseous diffusion. Table 14.3 lists gaseous diffusion plants in operation in 1977 and those then under construction, planned, or under consideration. Part 1 of Table 14.3 lists plants in operation at that time. The three large plants of the U. S. Department of Energy (DOE) had a capacity of over 17 million kg separative work units (SWU) per year when supplied with the maximum amount of electric power, 6100 MW, they could then utilize.

The U. S.S. R. plant is rumored to have an annual capacity of from 7 to 10 million units, of which 3 million are thought available for export. The existing plants of the French Commissariat a l’Energie Atomique (CEA) and British Nuclear Fuels, Ltd. (BNFL) are too small to be a major source. Little is known about the Chinese plant.

Table 14.3 Gaseous diffusion projects

Capacity, million kg separative work

Owner Location units per year

Part 2 of Table 14.3 lists additional separative capacity by gaseous diffusion under construction. U. S. DOE is improving the barrier in its three existing plants and increasing the power input to the stage compressors to increase capacity by 10.5 million units per year. The Eurodif combination of French, Belgian, Italian, Spanish, and Iranian interests is building a 10.8 million unit per year plant in France, using French-developed technology, to start operation in

1978.

Parts 3 and 4 list additional gaseous diffusion enrichment projects likely to be built. The Coredif project uses French diffusion technology, and appears to be committed to construction of 5.4 million units of additional diffusion capacity at a European site still to be selected. Possible expansion of capacity of this plant by another 5.4 million units per year is under consideration.

Gas centrifuge projects. Table 14.4 lists gas centrifuge projects. The Urenco-Centec Organization, a combination of British, Dutch, and German interests, has been operating three pilot units at Capenhurst, England, and Almelo, Holland, since 1972. By 1982 these plants will have been expanded to an annual capacity of 2 million units. This group is seeking additional orders with intention of increasing capacity to 10 million units by 1985 if orders materialize.

President Carter announced on April 20, 1977, that the United States would expand its uranium enrichment facilities and would shortly reopen its order book for sale of additional units of separative work. After the cascade uprating and cascade improvement programs have been completed, all new separative capacity would be provided by the gas centrifuge, whose much lower energy demand and greater flexibility were perceived as decisive advantages. U. S. DOE is building a centrifuge enrichment plant with capacity of 2.2 million kg SWU/year at Portsmouth, Ohio, for operation in the late 1980s. Expansion of 8.8 million kg SWU/year is possible.

Japan is building a 7000-machine centrifuge pilot plant to operate in 1979 and is considering a 6 million SWU/year production plant to start operation in 1985.

Aerodynamic processes. Two projects have developed to industrial-scale processes for sepa­rating uranium isotopes by causing a mixture of UF6 and hydrogen to flow at high speed in a sharply curved path and thus experience centrifugal acceleration large enough to effect partial separation of a5UF6 and 238UF6. The separation nozzle process developed by Becker and his associates at the Karlsruhe Nuclear Research Center in Germany and adapted for industrial use by Steag, A. G., and Gesellschaft fur Kemforschung is being used in a plant with a capacity of 180,000 SWU/year being built in Brazil for operation in 1982. The UCOR process, developed by Roux, Grant, and their associates of the Uranium Enrichment Corporation of South Africa, has been demonstrated in a 6000 SWU/year pilot plant at Valindaba, South Africa; in 1978 a decision was to be made whether to build a commercial plant based on this process. These processes will be described in Sec. 6.