The Nuclear Fuel Cycle

Mining
Uranium ore is extracted from the earth
Milling
The mined uranium ore is crushed and chemically treated to separate the uranium, usually by
the addition of acid or alkali. The remaining crushed rock, called ‘tailings’, must be appropriately
disposed of. The final result is ‘yellow cake’, a powder form of uranium oxide or similar
compounds. In yellow cake, which can actually vary in colour from yellow, orange to almost
black depending on its exact chemical composition, the uranium concentration is raised to more
than 80%.
Conversion
In general, conversion is a process in which the uranium is converted to a form suitable either
for fuel fabrication or enrichment. A minority of nuclear power plants do not require enriched
uranium and for these power plants, the yellow cake is converted to uranium dioxide at the
conversion plant. Most power plants, however, require enriched uranium. As enrichment the
next step of the nuclear fuel cycle requires the material to be in the gaseous form, the yellow
cake is converted into uranium hexafluoride UF6 is a gas at relatively low temperature. The gas
is fed into large cylinders where it solidifies. The cylinders are loaded into strong metal
containers and shipped to an enrichment plant.
Enrichment
Natural uranium consists primarily of two isotopes: U-238 and U-235. The fission process, by
which heat energy is released in a nuclear reactor, takes place mainly with U-235. As most
nuclear power plants require fuel with a U-235 concentration of 3–5%, the proportion of
the U-235 isotope must be increased. This process is known as enrichment. Uranium is
enriched in U-235 by introducing the gas into fast spinning cylinders (centrifuges), where
heavier isotopes are pushed out to the cylinder walls. Uranium can also be enriched using older
technology —known as diffusion — by pumping UF6 gas through porous membranes that allow
U-235 to pass through more easily than heavier isotopes, such as U-238. The older diffusion
plants are energy intensive and are being phased out to be replaced by far more energy efficient
centrifuge enrichment technology.
Fuel fabrication
All of the current generation of power reactors use uranium dioxide,UO2 fuel in the form of
ceramic pellets. To make these pellets, ceramic grade UO2 powder is pressed into a cylinder
about the size of a fingertip. These pellets are then sintered (baked) at high temperatures to
form the ceramic, which is much like making any other ceramic items. With a melting point
around 2800°C, ceramic pellets can operate at high temperatures. They are also a ‘barrier’
containing radioactivity within the reactor fuel. One uranium pellet contains approximately the
same amount of energy as 800 kg of coal or 560 L of oil. After sintering, the pellets are milled to
a very precise size and shape, and loaded into long metal tubes to form fuel elements. These
tubes are generally made of zirconium alloys. They hold the fuel pellets and contain any
radioactive gases released from the fuel pellets. Many such fuel elements make up a fuel
assembly. Fuel assemblies are carefully designed to allow transfer of heat to the cooling water,
which flows through them carrying away the heat from the fuel elements during reactor
operation
Electricity generation
A nuclear power plant is much like any gas- or coal-fired power plant. Water is heated to
produce steam at extremely high temperatures and pressures. This steam is used to drive
turbines which then turn generators, producing the electrical energy we use every day. The
significant difference between fossil fuel and nuclear power plants is the source of heat. In a
fossil fuel plant, the heat is produced by burning gas or coal. In a nuclear plant, the heat is
generated by the fission of some of the uranium in the nuclear fuel assemblies. When the
nucleus of an atom of, for example, U-235 absorbs a neutron, it may split (or fission) into two
pieces, giving off energy as heat and a few more neutrons to continue this nuclear chain
reaction. This chain reaction is controlled to produce exactly the desired amount of energy.
Nuclear fuel is typically used in the reactor for 3–6 years. About once a year, 25–30% of the fuel
is unloaded and replaced with fresh fuel.
Interim fuel storage

After their useful life of 3–6 years, fuel assemblies are removed from the reactor. After their
permanent removal, they are stored under water, which provides both cooling and radiation
shielding. Later, for longer term storage, spent fuel assemblies can be moved to another pool for
wet storage or to air-cooled, shielded buildings or casks for dry storage. Both the heat and
radioactivity decrease over time. After 40 years in storage, the spent fuel’s radioactivity will be
about a thousand times lower than when it was permanently removed from the reactor.
Reprocessing Spent Fuel
The spent fuel contains uranium (about 96%), plutonium (about 1%) and high level radioactive
waste products (about 3%). The uranium, with less than 1% fissile U-235, and the plutonium
can be reused. Current reprocessing plants dissolve the spent fuel and chemically separate it
into those three components: uranium, plutonium and high level waste. Much like freshly mined
uranium, the uranium recovered by reprocessing can be converted to UF6 and re-enriched,
returning to the fuel cycle as recovered uranium’. The plutonium can be mixed with uranium and
used to fabricate mixed oxide fuel (MOX) for nuclear reactors. The use of plutonium, through
MOX fuel reduces the need for enrichment and the production of depleted uranium. The high
level waste is vitrified, or converted into a glass, to be disposed of in a high level waste disposal
facility. Approximately one third of the fuel discharged from nuclear reactors is
reprocessed.
Final Deposition
radioactive waste is grouped into low, intermediate and high level waste. As some countries use
more detailed categorization, the common principle determining the type of waste is the
radioactive content and half-life, i.e. the time taken for the waste to lose half of its radioactivity.
Spent fuel (when declared as waste) and high level waste can be safely disposed of deep
underground, in stable rock formations such as granite, thus eliminating the health risk to people
and protecting the environment. This waste will be packed in durable containers and buried
deep in geological formations chosen for their favourable stability and geochemistry, including
limited water movement. These geological formations have stability over hundreds of millions of
years, far longer than the spent fuel and the high level waste are dangerous for. The first
disposal facilities are planned to be in operation around 2020 in Finland and Sweden.
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Mining

Uranium ore is extracted from the earth

Interim fuel storage

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