Ammonium diuranate or (ADU) ((NH₄)₂U₂O₇), is one of the intermediate chemical forms of

uranium Uranium is a chemical element with the symbol U and atomic number 92. It is a silvery-grey metal in the actinide series of the periodic table. A uranium atom has 92 protons and 92 electrons, of which 6 are valence electrons. Uranium is weak ...

produced during

yellowcake Yellowcake (also called urania) is a type of uranium concentrate powder obtained from leach solutions, in an intermediate step in the processing of uranium ores. It is a step in the processing of uranium after it has been mined but before fue ...

production. The name "yellowcake" originally given to this bright yellow salt, now applies to mixtures of uranium oxides which are actually hardly ever yellow. It also is an intermediate in mixed-oxide (

MOX Mixed oxide fuel, commonly referred to as MOX fuel, is nuclear fuel that contains more than one oxide of fissile material, usually consisting of plutonium blended with natural uranium, reprocessed uranium, or depleted uranium. MOX fuel is an al ...

) fuel fabrication. Although it is usually called "ammonium diuranate" as though it has a "diuranate" ion , this is not necessarily the case. It can also be called diammonium diuranium heptaoxide. The structure is said to be similar to that of uranium dioxide dihydrate. It is

precipitate In an aqueous solution, precipitation is the process of transforming a dissolved substance into an insoluble solid from a super-saturated solution. The solid formed is called the precipitate. In case of an inorganic chemical reaction leading ...

d by adding aqueous

ammonium hydroxide Ammonia solution, also known as ammonia water, ammonium hydroxide, ammoniacal liquor, ammonia liquor, aqua ammonia, aqueous ammonia, or (inaccurately) ammonia, is a solution of ammonia in water. It can be denoted by the symbols NH3(aq). Although ...

after uranium extraction by

tertiary amine In chemistry, amines (, ) are compounds and functional groups that contain a basic nitrogen atom with a lone pair. Amines are formally derivatives of ammonia (), wherein one or more hydrogen atoms have been replaced by a substituent such a ...

s in

kerosene Kerosene, paraffin, or lamp oil is a combustible hydrocarbon liquid which is derived from petroleum. It is widely used as a fuel in aviation as well as households. Its name derives from el, κηρός (''keros'') meaning "wax", and was regi ...

. This precipitate is then thickened and centrifuged before being

calcined Calcination refers to thermal treatment of a solid chemical compound (e.g. mixed carbonate ores) whereby the compound is raised to high temperature without melting under restricted supply of ambient oxygen (i.e. gaseous O2 fraction of air), gener ...

uranium oxide Uranium oxide is an oxide of the element uranium. The metal uranium forms several oxides: * Uranium dioxide or uranium(IV) oxide (UO2, the mineral uraninite or pitchblende) * Diuranium pentoxide or uranium(V) oxide (U2O5) * Uranium trioxide or u ...

. Canadian practice favours the production of

from ammonium diuranate, rather than from

uranyl nitrate Uranyl nitrate is a water-soluble yellow uranium salt with the formula . The hexa-, tri-, and dihydrates are known. The compound is mainly of interest because it is an intermediate in the preparation of nuclear fuels. Uranyl nitrate can be prepa ...

as is the case elsewhere. Ammonium diuranate was once used to produce colored glazes in ceramics. However when being fired this will decompose to uranium oxide, so the uranate was only used as a lower cost material than the fully purified uranium oxide.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ammonium Diuranate Uranates Nuclear materials Ammonium compounds