Gennady Voskresensky

    There is still something in the Russian economy that does not fail to give rise to legal pride and even to instill a certain belief in future. Above all, it pertains to the nuclear power industry whose high technologies have gained increasing recognition in the world market.
It is a common knowledge. Success is much spoken about by the management of the nuclear power industry proper. By the by, the managers do not object that «some problems are existing», with the most serious of them being that of raw materials. The growing shortage of raw materials is becoming a problem of great concern to nuclear power specialists, if to judge by any representative industrial scientific & technical conference
The problem of raw materials begins with uranium. And not only in Russia, but in any nuclear nation without exception.

As far as Russia is concerned, an official document entitled «Information to the elaboration of conceptions of restructuring of nuclear power industry of the Russian Federation» by the Ministry of Nuclear Power (Minatom) indicates a figure of explored reserves of natural uranium equaling to approximately 240,000 tons.
According to the estimates of Western experts, with a presentday level of consumption these reserves will be sufficient to Russia for 40 to 50 years to come. Thus, the country is approaching a deadline beyond which it may be turned out of an exporter of uranium into an importer.
Meanwhile, it is planned to increase an output of the nuclear fuel. Taking into consideration the Program for the Development of the Nuclear Power Industry approved by Minatom, this figure amounting to 8,500 tpy in 2001-2002 will reach 9,200 tpy by 2010. This growth is connected with the requirements of the nuclear power industry of Russia proper and of those countries which use Russian fuel to operate nuclear power stations built with an assistance of the former USSR Besides, Russia is constructing new nuclear power stations abroad, expanding its presence in external markets: China, India, Iran and other countries. Besides, here one must add export orders for natural and enriched uranium, etc. All the above by far calls for an intensification of natural uranium output. In particular, Valery Prokhorov, Executive Director of JSC TVEL, a leading corporate formation of Minatom, gives special attention to this problem, naming it «a priority one».
In what way do the nuclear power men intend to solve this problem? Above all, «we are going to drop a low-efficient technique of mining and turn to a promising heap leaching – in this case uranium output will increase and uranium proper will become profitable», Valentin Shatalov, Director of All-Russian Institute of Non-Organic Chemical Technologies (VNIIChT) explains.
According to Valery Prokhorov, in 1998-1999 a significant scope of works was executed in the development of two test polygons at Dolmat and Khiagda uranium deposits. Valery Prokhorov notes that «valuable experience in the operation of these two sections has been accumulated. It will permit actual production programs to be worked out and initial data for design & construction of full-scale operations to be submitted. A construction of an uranium producing undertaking based on the Khiagda deposit will make it possible to solve the problem of procurement of nuclear fuel producers with 1,500-2,000 tpy of Russian raw materials».
However, on the other hand, Valentin Shatalov is convinced that the results of 1999-2000 show quite positively that further development of the uranium raw materials base will require usage of radically new achievements in physicochemistry, set-up of a new generation of equipment and machinery and fitting them in production operations. «The existing flowsheets of production and processing shall be drastically changed on the basis of extended fundamental research on uranium problem. It will afford greater utilization of deposit reserves and low-waste environment-friendly production operations. Only this way will ensure high competitiveness of uranium production».
«It deals not only with the production of uranium but also with all other production operations necessary for the nuclear power industry», Valery Shatalov points out. Above all, strategic metals, such as lithium and beryllium are taken into consideration here, as well as constructional nuclear pure metals like zirconium, hafnium, tantalum, niobium.
Nowadays some of these production operations which depend on the supplies of raw materials from CIS and China are shut down. The raw materials base of compounds for constructional materials (zirconium, niobium) and fuel assemblies (rare-earth elements and others) undergoes radical changes. It is especially noticeable in the case of zirconium.
Zirconium is of the greatest importance in the production of nuclear fuel since it is used as a constructional material of active zones of nuclear reactors.
For the time being, zirconium concentrate (raw materials for zirconium production) goes from Ukraine and Chepetsky Mechanical Plant (ChMZ) in the town of Glazov, Udmurtia, processes it to finished products. But «by 2003 our zirconium deposit will be depleted», Evgeny Kozik, General Director of Ukrainian Foreign Economic Corporation «Tyazhmashimpex» of the Ministry of Industrial Policy of Ukraine, warns. Meantime, there is no Russian alternate.
«It is necessary to develop an own raw materials base judging from the viewpoint of independence of Russian enterprises and owing to the depletion of Ukrainian mines», Valery Prokhorov points out. The development of prospecting and technological works based on Russian deposits is required which will permit zirconium of needed quality to be produced and processed at ChMZ in a quantity of up to 4,000 tpy.
Now at ChMZ the raw materials of Kovdor Mine & Concentrator (the Murmansk Region) where the content of zirconium concentrate is up to 98 % are being rather intensively introduced into the production process.
«The preparation for radical reconstruction of chemical conversion of zirconium is under way», Evgeny Ilyenko, Deputy Head of the Central Research Laboratory of ChMZ, says. «A new technology of zirconium production has been developed and is now under implementation. It will allow a substantial improvement of economic indicators and lower waste. A pilot plant of zirconium chloride reduction has been already erected, and first tons of zirconium sponge have been produced. Alongside it, the possible usage of an extraction process of metals separation is under study, the more so as the experience of operation of up-to-date equipment based on centrifuges is available. The main point here is not to lose quality because local constructional materials require higher properties than foreign ones».
At the same time, ChMZ is trying to solve the problem of rare-earth metals which find more and more extended application both in nuclear power industry (control rods, steel, fuel components) and in civil products. Nuclear power men stress that one of the most important problems is a set-up of captive production of rare-earth metals, like erbium, gadolinium and dysprosium oxides, etc., which are an important link in the security of nuclear power stations.
«The implementation of the program where new technology types will be used will permit a production of up to 2,000 tpy of rare-earth metals compositions, Rafail Gainutdinov, Head of Market Situation & Demand Department of ChMZ, says. «It will afford Russia’s requirements to be met and export supplies to be made, thus restoring ties with other industries».
A general impression is as follows: for the last two or three years, attempts to solve the raw materials problem in Russia have become much more active in all directions. We shall enlist the main ones.
Fluorine and its derivatives. In order to produce uranium hexafluoride, large-scale production operations for hydrofluoric acid, fluoric hydrogen gas and elementary fluorine have been set up. The technologies and the equipment are Russian. They are the basis for the production of fluoride compounds, above all, uranium hexafluoride. Here the raw material is fluorite from the deposits of Russia, Central Asia and Mongolia.
Unique schemes of preparation and processing of raw materials which provide for high quality of finished products have been put into practice. The process allows the makers to become the biggest producers of metals fluorides and fluorine derivatives of various profile, new production operations of solar silicon to be set up, etc.
«It is all the more important because now the quality of raw materials deteriorated drastically, plus an obvious tendency towards higher prices for imported raw materials became evident», Valentin Shatalov, Director of State Unitary Enterprise VNIIChT, points out.
Lithium. Before the collapse of the USSR, Russia ranked second in the world mining and production of lithium compounds. It produced 8,000 to 9,000 tpy in carbonate equivalent.
The Krasnoyarsk Chemical & Metallurgical Plant (a producer of lithium compounds) also produced cesium and gallium (metal) from spodumene concentrates (up to 200 to 250 tpy, a must for electronic industry).
Owing to the depletion of ore deposits, the production of lithium in Russia was stopped in 1997. Now, under the tolling agreement with Minsal (Chili) the Krasnoyarsk Chemical & Metallurgical Plant processes imported industrial lithium carbonate and intends to produce lithium hydroxide, water-free chloride and lithium metal.
The Novosibirsk Plant of Chemical Concentrates (NPCC), another main lithium producer, signed an agreement on the processing of lithium waste of US amalgam exchange industry (separation of lithium isotopes) and intends to produce hydroxide, carbonate of lithium, water-free chloride and lithium metal. «In so doing, for the time being, the problem of utilization of idle facilities has been solved», Vladimir Rozhkov, Technical Director of NPCC, is sure.
ZKhK JSC makes lithium metal and lithium-based products. High-quality lithium and its salts are widely used in different industries. At present the NPCC facilities are able to provide the processing of raw materials accounting for 20 % of world output of lithium products.
«Meantime, a comprehensive (gypsum & calcic) flowsheet for extraction of lithium from greisen ores has been developed in VNIIChT for processing of new kinds of local raw materials», Valentin Shatalov states. «As associates of lithium, sodium sulfate, sulfoaluminate cement, salts of cesium and rubidium (mostly, cesium which is in great demand abroad), can be produced».
Beryllium. Before the collapse of the USSR, beryllium production at the Ust-Kamenogorsk Metallurgical Plant was the largest in the world, amounting to 200 tpy. The products made from non-alloyed beryllium, not inferior to foreign ones in quality, were used, for the most part, in nuclear power industry and aerospace equipment. The demand of nuclear power industry was no more than 20 to 25 tpy. Beryllium bronzes superior to European products were in high demand. The world best acoustic systems operated on Russian bronze membranes. Beryllium optics was similar to US products in quality. Constructional beryllium alloys used to be produced in large quantities. Beryllium oxide ceramics was widely applied for the production of integrated circuits in Russia and abroad.

R E F E R E N C E The nuclear power industry, one of the leading sectors in the Russian economy, has a powerful industrial & scientific potential. The sector incorporates a number of high-tech subindustries: power generation, production of nuclear fuel, nuclear weapons complex, mining of rare & rare-earth metals, construction of nuclear power stations in Russia and abroad. The subindusrries are being developed by big state associations set up in the form of joint-stock companies: Rosenergoatom Concern (power generation), TVEL JSC (production of nuclear fuel), Atomstroyexport JSC (construction of nuclear power stations abroad), Tekhsnabexport (foreign trade), etc. The activities of the industry at large are coordinated by the Ministry of the Russian Federation of Nuclear Power (Minatom of Russia) guiding the work of joint-stock companies, big enterprises and plants, scientific & production associations and scientific centers.

Reserved stocks of beryllium concentrates earlier mined in Russia were left in the territory of Kazakhstan, among them there are unique concentrates of the Ermakovsky deposit which contain 11 to 14 % BeO. According to the data of Federal Target Program LIBTON, the production operations are to be renewed reaching 60 tpy of beryllium. The plant is to be built on the industrial site of the Transbaikal Mine & Concentrator since there is a concentrating plant for the production of beryllium concentrates from the Ermakovsky ores. However, the key point is still missing: a decision to construct these production operations.
Niobium & tantalum. The raw materials base of these metals is connected with two Transbaikal deposits: Etyka and Katuginsky. Of special importance is the Katuginsky complex deposit (niobium, tantalum, zirconium). Both deposits can ensure long life. Within the framework of the LIBTON Program, in 1999 the pilot operation of the concentrator began along with engineering works on a complex ore processing shop aimed at an annual production of 40 to 60 tpy of niobium and tantalum. The Transbaikal Mine & Concentrator expands an output of bulk tantalum & niobium concentrate and implements a program of its downstream processing. «It will permit, starting from 2002, the demand for the metals to be met both in this sector and off-side», Valery Prokhorov points out.
Other metals & materials. Such metals as scandium, rhenium, tungsten and some others, are important for defense and aircraft industries. Enterprises of Minatom have experience of operation in this field, in particular, during associated extraction of uranium from productive solutions of underground leaching.
Big gold-containing areas are situated in the areas of eastern enterprises. Lately, despite total decrease in gold output, new gold-producing undertakings were put on stream. «From this viewpoint», Valentin Shatalov says, «it is feasible to launch works on underground leaching of gold and processing of technogenic products. By preliminary estimation, tens of deposits whose total reserve is 20 to 30 tons can be involved in these works. Within a concise term, production operations can be organized, with up to 6 tons per year of gold to be produced using underground and heap leaching (the payback period is 2 to 3 years). The profitability is high, without licenses for the deposits to be bought».
Another matter is that big investments will be required for the set-up of highly-profitable operations producing high-value high-tech items. However evidently it is quite a different problem.