Nuclear Fuel Cycle - World Nuclear Association

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Nuclear Fuel Cycle

Introduction

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Nuclear Fuel Cycle

The nuclear fuel cycle is the series of industrial processes which involve the production of electricity from uranium in nuclear power reactors. Uranium is a relatively common element that is found th...

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Nuclear Fuel Cycle

What is Uranium? How Does it Work?

Uranium is a very heavy metal which can be used as an abundant source of concentrated energy. Uranium occurs in most rocks in concentrations of 2 to 4 parts per million and is as common in t...

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Nuclear Fuel Cycle

Physics of Nuclear Energy

Neutrons in motion are the starting point for everything that happens in a nuclear reactor. When a neutron passes near to a heavy nucleus, for example uranium-235, the neutron may be captured by the n...

Uranium Resources

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Nuclear Fuel Cycle

Uranium Markets

Production from world uranium mines has in recent years supplied 90% of the requirements of power utilities. Primary production from mines is supplemented by secondary supplies, principally by ex...

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Nuclear Fuel Cycle

Supply of Uranium

Uranium is a relatively common metal, found in rocks and seawater. Economic concentrations of it are not uncommon.

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Nuclear Fuel Cycle

Geology of Uranium Deposits

Uranium occurs in a number of different igneous, hydrothermal and sedimentary geological environments. The major primary ore mineral is uraninite or pitchblende, though a range of other uran...

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Nuclear Fuel Cycle

Military Warheads as a Source of Nuclear Fuel

Weapons-grade uranium and plutonium is being made available for use as civil fuel. Highly-enriched uranium from weapons stockpiles met about 13% of world reactor requirements through to 2013.

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Nuclear Fuel Cycle

Uranium and Depleted Uranium

The basic fuel for a nuclear power reactor is uranium. Uranium occurs naturally in the Earth's crust and is mildly radioactive. Depleted uranium is a by-product from uranium enrichment.

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Nuclear Fuel Cycle

Uranium from Phosphates

Rock phosphate deposits contain many million tonnes of uranium, which may be extracted as a by-product of making fertilizers. The process because uneconomic in the 1990s, but process improvements and ...

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Nuclear Fuel Cycle

Uranium From Rare Earths Deposits

A large amount of uranium is in rare earths deposits, and may be extracted as a by-product. Higher uranium prices and geopolitical developments would enhance the economic potential for recovering thes...

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Nuclear Fuel Cycle

The Cosmic Origins of Uranium

The Earth's uranium has been thought to be produced in one or more supernovae over 6 billion years ago. More recent research suggests it could also be created through the merger of neutron stars. ...

Mining of Uranium

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Nuclear Fuel Cycle

World Uranium Mining Production

Nearly three-quarters of the world's production of uranium from mines is from Kazakhstan, Canada, Australia and Namibia. Another 11 countries contribute the rest.

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Nuclear Fuel Cycle

Uranium Mining Overview

In the last 60 years uranium has become one of the world's most important energy minerals. It is used almost entirely for making electricity, though a small proportion is used for the important ta...

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Nuclear Fuel Cycle

In-Situ Leach Mining of Uranium

Most uranium mining in the USA and Kazakhstan is now by in situ leach methods. In the USA, ISL is seen as the most cost effective and environmentally acceptable method of mining, and Australian ...

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Nuclear Fuel Cycle

Environmental Aspects of Uranium Mining

In most respects the environmental aspects of a uranium mine are the same as those of other metalliferous mining. Most uranium mines in Australia and Canada have ISO 14001 certification. The...

Conversion, Enrichment & Fabrication

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Nuclear Fuel Cycle

Conversion and Deconversion

Prior to enrichment, uranium oxide must be converted to a fluoride so that it can be processed as a gas, at low temperature. Conversion plants are operating commercially in Canada, China, France, Russ...

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Nuclear Fuel Cycle

Uranium Enrichment

Most of the commercial nuclear power reactors in the world today require uranium 'enriched' in the U-235 isotope for their fuel. The commercial process employed for this enrichment involves ga...

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Nuclear Fuel Cycle

Fuel Fabrication

Fuel fabrication is the final stage in nuclear fuel preparation prior to use in a reactor. Nuclear fuel assemblies are specifically designed for particular types of reactors and are made to exacting s...

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Nuclear Fuel Cycle

High-Assay Low-Enriched Uranium (HALEU)

The current fleet of nuclear reactors runs primarily on uranium fuel enriched up to 5% uranium-235 (U-235). High-assay low-enriched uranium (HALEU) is defined as uranium enriched to greater than 5% an...

Nuclear Power Reactors

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Nuclear Fuel Cycle

Nuclear Power Reactors

About 9% of the world's electricity is produced from nuclear energy. Most nuclear electricity is generated using just two kinds of reactor. New designs are coming forward and some are in oper...

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Nuclear Fuel Cycle

Advanced Nuclear Power Reactors

Improved designs of nuclear power reactors are currently being developed in several countries. Newer advanced reactors now being built have simpler designs which reduce capital cost. They are more fue...

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Nuclear Fuel Cycle

Small Nuclear Power Reactors

There is revival of interest in small and simpler units for generating electricity from nuclear power, and for process heat. This interest in smaller nuclear power reactors is driven both by a desire ...

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Nuclear Fuel Cycle

Heavy Manufacturing of Power Plants

A critical issue for accelerating nuclear power plant construction is the availability of heavy engineering plants to make the reactor components, especially for those units of more than 1100 MWe.&nbs...

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Nuclear Fuel Cycle

Generation IV Nuclear Reactors

An international task force is developing six nuclear reactor technologies for deployment between 2020 and 2030. Four are fast neutron reactors. All six systems represent advances in sustainabili...

Fuel Recycling

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Nuclear Fuel Cycle

Processing of Used Nuclear Fuel

Used nuclear fuel has long been reprocessed to extract fissile materials for recycling and to reduce the volume of high-level wastes. New reprocessing technologies are being developed to be deployed i...

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Nuclear Fuel Cycle

Mixed Oxide Fuel MOX

Mixed oxide (MOX) fuel provides about 2% of the new nuclear fuel used today. MOX fuel is manufactured from plutonium recovered from used reactor fuel. MOX fuel also provides a means of burning weapons...

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Nuclear Fuel Cycle

Plutonium

Over one-third of the energy produced in most nuclear power plants comes from plutonium. It is created there as a by-product. Plutonium has occurred naturally, but except for trace quantities it is no...

Nuclear Waste

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Nuclear Fuel Cycle

Radioactive Waste Management

Nuclear waste is neither particularly hazardous nor hard to manage relative to other toxic industrial wastes. The amount of radioactive waste is very small relative to wastes produced by fossil f...

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Nuclear Fuel Cycle

Treatment and Conditioning of Nuclear Waste

Treatment and conditioning processes are used to convert radioactive waste materials into a form that is suitable for its subsequent management.

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Nuclear Fuel Cycle

Storage and Disposal of Radioactive Waste

Most low-level radioactive waste is typically sent to land-based disposal immediately following its packaging. Many long-term waste management options have been investigated worldwide which seek to pr...

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Nuclear Fuel Cycle

International Nuclear Waste Disposal Concepts

There have been several proposal for regional and international repositories for disposal of high-level nuclear wastes and several projects are being investigated.

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Nuclear Fuel Cycle

Radioactive Waste – Myths and Realities

There are a number of pervasive myths regarding both radiation and radioactive wastes. Some lead to regulation and actions which are counterproductive to human health and safety.

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Nuclear Fuel Cycle

Decommissioning Nuclear Facilities

Decommissioning costs for nuclear power plants, including disposal of associated wastes, contribute only a small fraction of the total cost of electricity generation. Proven techniques and equipm...

Transport

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Nuclear Fuel Cycle

Transport of Radioactive Material

Radioactive material accounts for a very small proportion of all dangerous material shipped each year. About 20 million consignments of radioactive material are transported each year on public roads, ...

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Nuclear Fuel Cycle

Japanese Waste and MOX Shipments From Europe

Reprocessing of Japanese used fuel has been undertaken in UK and France under contract with Japanese utilities. Recovered fissile materials are returned to Japan as reactor fuel, notably as mixed oxid...