FCN Nuclear Fuel Factory - Enrichment
The first Brazilian uranium enrichment plant is in the process of being
implemented, using part of the existing facilities, in industrial scale,
through the ultra-centrifugation technology. A contract between INB and
the Centro Tecnológico da Marinha (The Brazilian Navy Technological Center) in São Paulo (CTMSP) provides for a project
with modular implementation and the installation of the 1st cascade for the
first half of 2002.
The operation of pressurized light water reactors (PWR) adopted by Brazil
for the generation of nuclear power in the Country use uranium that should be
slightly enriched, that is, the light isotope uranium 235 that occurs in natural
uranium with a proportion of 0.72%, should be enriched by 3.5%. Political reasons
of internal supply, as well as economic reasons make it essential to Brazil that
this uranium enrichment should be processed in the Country.
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