Ulba (company)
| Ulba
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|---|---|
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| legal form | Corporation |
| founding | October 29, 1949 |
| Seat | Öskemen , Kazakhstan |
| management |
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| Number of employees | 3835 (2019) |
| sales | 42.2 billion tenge (2019) |
| Branch | Nuclear fuel technology , metallurgy |
| Website | www.ulba.kz |
| As of December 31, 2019 | |
The metallurgical plant Ulba ( Kazakh Үлбі металлургиялық зауыты Ülbi metallurgijalyq sauyty , Russian Ульбинский металлургический завод Ulbinski metallurgitscheski zavod ) is a nuclear fuel company based in Öskemen . It is a subsidiary of the state-run uranium mining company Kazatomprom .
history
As part of the Soviet atomic bomb project , the decision was made in 1947 to build a steel mill in Usk-Kamenogorsk . The production of thorium , a radioactive metal, was supposed to start here. It was then considered a possible alternative charge for the atomic bomb . The plant opened two years later, and the first production batch of thorium oxalate left the plant in October of the same year. The production of this fabric lasted only two years and was discontinued in 1951. Instead, hydrofluoric acid was now produced. In the following years, the iron and steel works were increasingly converted to the processing of metals and radioactive substances. The processing of tantalum (1952), uranium (1954) and beryllium (1956) was gradually started.
Components and parts for the nuclear industry have also been manufactured in Öskemen since 1972. On September 12, 1990, an explosion occurred in the production of beryllium , releasing toxic gases. Soviet authorities later announced that years of neglect of safety precautions had caused the explosion. The management of the plant would have failed to regularly clean the ventilation system of the plant.
In 1997 the Ulba smelter was transferred to the newly established state uranium mining company Kazatomprom . With the establishment of a subsidiary in Moscow in 2002, sales of beryllium products on the Russian market were to be expanded. Two companies were also set up in the People's Republic of China to sell the products on the Asian market. Commercial production of niobium began in 2002 .
Products
Ulba is the only Kazakh manufacturer of nuclear fuel for use in nuclear power plants . For this purpose, uranium (IV) oxide is processed into pellets , which are then used in fuel rods . In addition, Ulba produces and processes a number of other raw materials. Among other things, fluorine compounds ( fluorite concentrate and gypsum ) are produced. Various master alloys are made from the light metal beryllium . Bars, wires and cables as well as alloys are made from tantalum . Niobium is also processed into bars, alloys and powder as well as other products.
Web links
- Ulba Official Website (Chinese, English, Kazakh, and Russian)
Individual evidence
- ↑ a b Consolidated Financial Report as of December 31, 2019. Ulba, accessed on August 8, 2020 (Excel; English).
- ↑ Disaster Zone Is Urged After Soviet Nuclear Blast. New York Times, accessed August 8, 2020.
- ^ Uranium production. Ulba, accessed on August 8, 2020.
- ↑ Production. Ulba, accessed on August 9, 2020.
Coordinates: 49 ° 59 ′ 22 " N , 82 ° 37 ′ 35.2" E