No Limit of Perfection

One of the main priorities of UMP JSC is care for the environment. In order to reduce the production factors impact on the environment, a large set of measures has been developed at the plant. So, for many years the process engineers of Shop «V» of the Uranium Operations together with the research engineers of the Research Center Uranium Laboratory have been carrying out serious developments to reduce liquid radioactive waste.

10 years of improvements

The Project is called «Improving the Arrangement and Management of Processing Natural Uranium Chemical Concentrate to Reduce Production Costs and Effectively Use the Resources». We have been working at it since 2010. During this time, it was possible to reduce the number of process operations, upgrade the equipment, improve the working conditions of Shop «V» workers and reduce the cost of products.

Within the framework of the Project, more than ten rationalization proposals and inventions were introduced at Shop «V» of the Uranium Operations. The recent one is «Arrangement of Natural Uranium Refining Process with a Gradual Increase of Uranium Mass Concentration in the Reextract». Based on the results of 2019, this project took second place in the nomination of the «Best Proposal with the Economic Effect» at the competition of NAC Kazatomprom.

Less does not mean worse

Thanks to the implementation of the above-mentioned rationalization proposal, the production technology was changed. The extraction operation today is carried out in seven stages instead of eight. This was achieved by reducing the washing stages.

Refining of the natural uranium chemical concentrate solutions is carried out using centrifugal apparatus. Previously the initial solution in the process of uranium extraction was supplied to the third stage of the cascade. To obtain a product of the required chemical composition the extract was washed with a nitric acid solution at two extraction stages.

The Research Center laboratory of the nuclear fuel cycle carries out studies to reduce the number of washing stages. The results demonstrated that a decrease in the steps of washing the extract from two to one in the process of uranium extraction does not lead to an increase in chemical impurities in the finished product.

To confirm laboratory tests, two industrial tests were carried out. As a result, specialists established that in the process of extraction refining of the natural uranium chemical concentrate, when arranging the extraction operation it is possible to increase uranium mass concentration in the extract without negative consequences. The quality of the resulting U3O8 is maintained in accordance with the requirements. Based on the confirmed facts, people of the Uranium Operations and the Research Center submitted an improvement proposal, which was subsequently approved. Since its implementation, Shop «V» has produced more than three thousand tons of uranium.

Only advantages

The arrangement of the natural uranium extraction process made it possible to reduce the amount of liquid radioactive waste in Shop «V» by 1.8 thousand cubic meters and reduce the cost of reagents (ammonia water) by more than 75 million tenge.

The implementation of all rationalization proposals led to a significant economic effect, which from 2010 till 2020 exceeded 300 million tenge!!! The productivity of the technological process also increased by 19%, and the amount of liquid radioactive waste decreased by 51%. And this is not the limit! Shop «V» of the Uranium Operations continues works to increase the concentration of reextract and reduce the amount of liquid radioactive waste.

One of the main types of finished products of the Uranium Operations is natural U3O8. U3O8 powder is resulted from processing natural uranium chemical concentrate delivered from the Kazakhstan mines.

 Subsidiaries of NAC «Kazatomprom» – suppliers of the plant

• ORTALYK Mine LLP. It produces uranium at the Tsentralny area of the Mynkuduk mine in the Turkestan region by in-situ leaching.

• RU-6 LLP. Uranium is mined by in-situ borehole leaching and its primary processing at the North Karamurun and South Karamurun mines in the Kyzylorda region.

• Semizbay-U LLP. Uranium is mined by in-situ borehole leaching at the Irkol mine in the Kyzylorda region and the Semizbay mine in the Akmola region.

• JV Khorasan-U LLP. It is engaged in uranium mining by in-situ leaching. Uranium ores are produced at the Kharasan-1 site of the North Kharasan mine in the Zhanakorgan district of the Kyzylorda region.

Press Office