TAILS MANAGEMENT | COVER STORY
Expanding tails management
With new demand on the horizon uranium enrichment company Urenco is building production capacity but is also looking at expanding its tails management capabilities too
URANIUM ENRICHMENT COMPANY URENCO HAS taken the next step in its plan to increase production capacity with a contract for its Tails Management Facility (TMF) expansion in the UK. Comprising of a number of associated storage, maintenance and residue processing facilities, the Tails Management Facility (TMF) is used to convert depleted uranium hexafluoride (UF6 uranium oxide (U308
), known as tails, into stable ). Richard Stephens, who is leading the overarching Capex
programme that includes the TMF expansion, explains: “In the new form it meets standards for things like non- proliferation and reducing dust. It’s about responsible nuclear stewardship and being able to store it in the correct form and for possible reuse at a later date.” Urenco has awarded a contract to engineering firm
Bechtel for the Front End Engineering Design (FEED) to expand the TMF so it is capable of processing greater volumes in response to anticipated growth in demand and, in turn, greater need for processing of tails.
Driving capacity expansion Behind the decision to expand the TMF are several growth drivers that are reaching across the nuclear fuel supply value chain. They include the climate crisis and energy security concerns in light of the conflict in Ukraine.
Although there is no shortage of enriched fuel in the industry currently, these factors have resulted in a greater demand for nuclear energy, and therefore enrichment services. Urenco has taken the decision to expand its production under its so-called capacity programme plan based on market forecasting and customer demand as more governments put stable policy frameworks in place that are in favour of nuclear energy. The plan will enable Urenco to deliver increased capacity at all four of its uranium enrichment sites that are located in the UK, the Netherlands, the USA, and Germany. Managing tails is part of that process. “We’ve seen the market change over the last couple of
years. It’s important to say that we see that companies and utilities around the world are looking more and more towards nuclear power as a green energy source, and a sustainable one at that, so we do anticipate an increase in our services to a market where previously utilities may have not been using nuclear power,” says Stephens, adding: “If you look at the Emirates, for example, there are new entrants to the global sector. We expect to see other countries enter the nuclear arena too. That potentially gives us an increase to our enrichment services to those particular utilities or countries and we want to be available and ready to service those needs.”
Above: Expansion of the TMF comes in response to anticipated increase in enrichment services for Urenco Source: Urenco
www.neimagazine.com | November 2023 | 13
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52 |
Page 53
