Conversion facility
A conversion facility turns yellowcake (U₃O₈) into uranium hexafluoride (UF₆) for enrichment, and is where physical uranium is held and title is transferred.
A conversion facility is an industrial plant that turns uranium yellowcake (U₃O₈) into uranium hexafluoride (UF₆), the form required for enrichment. Only a small number of commercial conversion facilities operate worldwide, in the United States, Canada, France, Russia, and China, which makes conversion capacity a recurring bottleneck in the fuel supply chain. See uranium conversion.
Conversion facilities as custody points
Conversion facilities also hold physical uranium for its owners. Institutions that own uranium typically hold it in a book account at a conversion facility, and physical settlement of a uranium trade is a book transfer between accounts there rather than a movement of the material. This makes conversion facilities the custody and settlement points of the physical uranium market. See how physical uranium is custodied.
ConverDyn and Uranium Digital
The conversion facility in Metropolis, Illinois is the only operating uranium conversion facility in the United States. On Uranium Digital, the physical U₃O₈ backing digital warehouse receipts is held at ConverDyn, an accredited U.S. conversion facility, and audited 1:1 against receipts outstanding. Redemption settles by book transfer into the institution's account at the conversion facility. See physical settlement.
FAQ
A uranium conversion facility is a plant that converts yellowcake (U₃O₈) into uranium hexafluoride (UF₆) for enrichment. Conversion facilities also hold physical uranium in book accounts for its owners, so they are where uranium ownership is transferred.
Only a small number of commercial uranium conversion facilities operate worldwide, located in the United States, Canada, France, Russia, and China. The conversion facility in Metropolis, Illinois is the only one operating in the United States.