Nuclear Industries of Brazil (INB – Indústrias Nucleares do Brasil) has signed a contract with Internexco GmbH (part of Rosatom) for the temporary conversion and enrichment abroad of up to 275,000 kg of uranium concentrate (U3O8) produced at the Uranium Concentration Unit in Caetite, Bahia.
The final product will be returned by December 2027 in the form of UF6 enriched to 4.25% and will be used in the manufacture of nuclear fuel for the Angra dos Reis NPP.
INB President Adauto Seixas said logistics planning for land operations in Brazil for the shipment is already underway as well as contracting for international shipping from the port of Salvador to Russia, and the licensing of exports.
An international tender was held for the contract and Seixas said INB plans to increase the frequency of such contracts through future international bids, following the successful resumption of uranium production in Caetite.
Conversion – the transformation of U3O8 into uranium hexafluoride (UF6) gas is the only step in the nuclear fuel cycle that INB does not undertake. The next stage is to enrich the gas enrichment step is carried out. The INB Enrichment Plant is being constructed in stages at the Nuclear Fuel Factory in Resende. It currently has installed capacity to meet about 70% of the enriched uranium needed required to refuel unit 1 of the Angra NPP.
Brazil has two operating reactors, Angra 1&2, which generate about 3% of its electricity. A third unit is being built but construction has been suspended for the time being. Uranium has been mined in Brazil since 1982, but the only operating mine is INB’s Lagoa Real/Caetité mine. It has a capacity of 340 tU a year with known resources of 10,000 tU at 0.3%U. Brazil’s uranium requirements are currently about 339 tU a year.
