 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
|
 |
 |
Uranium Ore Processing/Milling
China has traditionally located its uranium processing facilities (for the production of U308) at or near uranium mines, primarily in Guangdong, Jiangxi, and Hunan Provinces.
According to the IAEA, China has an operable ore processing capacity of 1,200 tons of uranium per year. China has two mining and ore processing facilities in operation: at Hengyang (1,000 tons/year) and Hengjian (200 tons/year); and two closed: at Baimadong and Yining.
URANIUM ORE PROCESSING/MILLING FACILITIES
NAME |
LOCATION |
COMMENTS |
Chenxian uranium mine |
Hunan Province (near 105.36E/33.42N) | China's first uranium mine; Soviet-designed; partially operational in September 1960; began full production in September 1962; uses shrinkage stopping mining technique; Soviet-designed and equipped magnetic separator facility for uranium processing was built near the mine |
Chongyi |
Near Lantian mine | Start-up: 1979; nominal capacity of 120 tons U per year |
Guizhou |
Guizhou province | Reported uranium ore processing facility |
Hengjian (Fuzhou uranium mine) |
Fuzhou (Hengjian), Jiangxi Province | One of China's two significant mining and metallurgical sites; also the site of the Hengjian uranium ore processing facility; ore feed, yellowcake (U3O8) product; uses A/IX (acid leaching/ion exchange) process; 200 tons per year capacity; nominal capacity: 300 tons per year; Start-up: 1976 |
Hengyang Uranium Hydrometallurgy Plant (Also known as the Hengyang Uranium Water Dressing Plant, Hengyang Uranium Plant, and Hengyang Uranium Processing Mill; formerly known as Plant 414 and later Plant 272) |
Hengyang, Hunan Province (112.36E/26.54N) | First large-scale uranium processing and purifying mill; established in 1958; began commercial operation in 1962; 1,100 tons of uranium per year capacity; nominal capacity: 500 tons per year; ore feed, U308 product; uses A/IX (acid leaching/ion exchange) process; built to process ores using magnetic separators; operated by China Nuclear Energy Industry Corporation (CNEIC) |
Huxian (?) |
Reported uranium ore processing facility | |
Qinglong |
Uranium ore processing; ore feed, yellowcake (U3O8) product; A/IX (acid leaching/ion exchange) process | |
Quzhou |
Zhejiang Province | Uranium hydrometallurgy mill. |
Shangrao Hydrometallurgy Plant |
Shangrao, Jiangxi Province (117.58E/28.28N) | Uranium hydrometallurgy plant for uranium extraction similar to the plant at Hengyang; commissioned in November 1962; refining of yellowcake (U3O8) |
Shao Kuan (?) |
Reported uranium ore processing facility | |
Tengchong |
Start-up: 1991; nominal capacity of 20 tons U per year | |
Tongxian Uranium Mining and Hydro-metallurgy Institute (Also known as the Uranium Mining and Metallurgical Processing Institute; also known as the Fifth Institute; established in 1958 as the Sixth Institute, but was later renamed.) |
Tongxian (116.39E/39.55N), east of Beijing | Development of uranium mining and processing technologies |
Uranium Oxide Production Plant |
Also known as Plant 2; established on 12 August 1960; Processed the uranium for China's first atomic bomb | |
Urumqi (?) |
Reported uranium ore processing facility | |
Xifeng |
Guizhou Province | Uranium hydrometallurgy mill |
Yining |
Uranium ore processing facility; ore feed, yellowcake (U3O8) product; start-up: 1970; closed: 1985; 40 tons per year capacity; nominal capacity of 100 tons per year; A/IX (acid leaching/ion exchange) process | |
Zhuzhou (?) |
Reported uranium ore processing facility |
NAMES IN ITALICS ARE FACILITIES NOT IN OPERATION
[Sources: Nuclear Weapons Databook, Volume 5, p. 338, 340, 344; Yan Kong, "China's Nuclear Bureaucracy," Jane's Intelligence Review, July 1993, pp. 321, 326; Lewis, John and Xue Litai, China Builds the Bomb, pp. 81, 85, 89, 95; "World Nuclear Industry Handbook 1995," Nuclear Engineering International, p. 119; IAEA, The Nuclear Fuel Cycle Information System: A Directory of Nuclear Fuel Cycle Facilities, 1995 Edition, pp. 108-109; Simon Rippon, "China: Ready For More Nuclear Power," Nuclear News, p. 33; Risk Report, November 1995, p. 7; OECD and IAEA, Uranium 1995: Resources, Production, and Demand, p. 139, Tang Zongyu, "Guide to Chinese Nuclear Organizations," Nuclear Europe Worldscan, November/December, 1999, p. 57.]
This
material is produced independently for NTI by the James Martin
Center for Nonproliferation Studies at the Monterey Institute of
International Studies and does not necessarily reflect the
opinions of and has not been independently verified by NTI or
its directors, officers, employees, agents. Copyright © 2007 by
MIIS.
