The Nuclear Fuel Cycle

To understand the “renewability” of nuclear fission fuel, we have to look at the complete fuel
cycle. At the beginning of the nuclear age, it was assumed that nations would complete the fuel
cycle— including the reprocessing of spent nuclear fuel from reactors, to get as near to 100
percent use of the uranium fuel as possible.

Figure 1 – Complete Nuclear Fuel Cycle

1 Uranium Mining
First, natural uranium is mined. There are enough sources of uranium
worldwide for today’s immediate needs, but once we begin an ambitious nuclear development
program (to build 6,000 nuclear reactors in order to provide enough electricity to bring the
entire world population up to a decent living standard), we would have to accelerate the
development of fast breeder nuclear reactors, which produce more fuel than they consume in
operation.
2 Preparation of Yellowcake
Next, the uranium is processed and milled into uranium oxide U3O8, called yellowcake, which is
the raw material for fission fuel.

Figure 2 – Drums of Yellowcake

It is basically natural uranium ore, which is crushed and processed by leaching (with acid or
carbonate) to dissolve the uranium, which can then be extracted and concentrated to 75
percent uranium, in combination with ammonium
or sodium-magnesium.

Figure 3– Preparation of Yellowcake

3 Converting U3O8 to UF 6
The concentrated uranium is then converted into uranium hexafluoride (UF6), which is heated
into a gas form suitable for enrichment because the uranium isotopes have identical chemical
properties, the processes employed for enrichment must use physical techniques which take advantage
of the slight differences in their masses.  The two enrichment methods used today, centrifugation and
diffusion, require that the uranium be in a gaseous form, uranium hexafluoride, UF 6(g).

4 Uranium Enrichment
Natural uranium has one primary isotope, U-238, which is not fissionable, and a much
smaller amount of U-235, which fissions. Because most uranium (99.276 percent) is U-238, the
uranium fuel must go through a process of enrichment, to increase the ratio of fissionable U-
235 to the nonfissionable U-238 from about 0.7 percent to 3 to 4 percent.(Weapons uranium is
enriched to about 93 percent U-235.)
The technology of enrichment was developed during the World War II Manhattan
Project, when the object was to create highly enriched uranium (HEU) to be used in the atomic
bomb. Civilian power reactors use mostly low-enriched uranium (LEU). (Canada has developed
a type of reactor, the CANDU, which uses unenriched, natural uranium in combination with a
heavy water moderator to produce fission.)
Uranium hexafluoride gas is pumped through a vast series of porous membranes—
thousands of miles of them. The molecules of the lighter isotope (U-235) pass through the
membrane walls slightly faster than do the heavier isotope (U-238). When extracted, the gas
has an increased content of U-235, which is fed into the next membrane-sieve, and the process
is repeated until the desired enrichment is reached. Because the molecular speeds of the two
uranium isotopes differ by only about 0.4 percent, each diffusion operation must be repeated
1,200 times.
 Figure 4 – Isotopic Separation by Gaseous Diffusion
The Manhattan Project devised this method of gaseous diffusion with incredible speed
and secrecy. It was not finished in time to produce all the uranium for the uranium bomb
dropped on Japan, but it produced most of the enriched uranium for the civilian and military
programs in subsequent years. Although a successful method, it required a tremendous amount
of energy and a huge physical structure to house the “cascades” of separate membranes.
Almost all the power consumed in the diffusion process is used to circulate and compress the
uranium gas.
The centrifuge system, used in Europe and Japan, is 10 times as energy efficient. The
strong centrifugal field of a rotating cylinder sends the heavier isotope in uranium hexafluoride
to the outside of the cylinder, where it can be drawn off, while the U-235 diffuses to the inside
of the cylinder. Because of the limitations of size of the centrifuge, many thousands of identical
centrifuges, connected in a series called a cascade, are necessary to produce the required
amounts of enriched uranium. A centrifuge plant requires only about 4 percent of the power
needed for a gaseous diffusion plant, and less water is needed for cooling. Other methods of
enrichment are possible— electromagnetic separation, laser isotope separation, and biological
methods.
5 Fabrication into Fuel Rods
Once the enriched uranium is separated from the depleted uranium, it is converted from UF6
into uranium dioxide and fabricated into uniform pellets. The pellets are loaded into long tubes
made out of a zirconium alloy, which captures very few neutrons. This cladding prevents the
release of fission products and also transfers the heat produced by the nuclear fission process
in the fuel. The fuel is then transported to the reactor site. Different types of reactors require
different designs of fuel rods and fuel bundles. In a light water reactor, the fuel rods are
inserted into the reactor to produce fission, which creates steam which turns a turbine that
creates electricity.

Figure 5 – Fuel rods

6 Nuclear reactor
In a nuclear reactor neutrons are used to split uranium nuclei (fission). The fission releases
energy in the form of kinetic energy of the fission particles, as well as in the form
of radiation. The energy is transformed to heat, which in turn is used to heat the water
in the reactor. The steam drives a turbine connected to a generator, which converts the
energy to electricity. After passing through the turbine the steam is condensed to water
in a condensor through heat exchange with a cooling agent (seawater), and after filtering
the water is recirculated to the reactor.
There are two main types of light water reactors LWRs, boiling water reactor (BWR) and
pressurized water reactors (PWR).
 Figure 6:Basic BWR

Figure7: Basic PWR

The nuclear reaction is the same in both types of reactor. Neutrons collide with uranium
nuclei, which split and release energy. The fissions release new neutrons, which collide with
more uranium nuclei and thus the process continues. The process in both reactor types is
controlled with control rods. In PWRs the reactor water has neutron-absorbing additives
(boron) as well.
In BWRs the reactor water is heated until it vaporizes in the reactor itself. In PWRs the
reactor water is pressurized in the reactor without vaporization, and the superheated water
flows to a steam generator where the heat is exchanged with another water circuit. That
water is vaporized and the steam drives a steam turbine as in the case of BWRs.
 The main difference between BWR and PWR is that PWRs have two water circuits – one
for reactor water and the other one for feed water to the steam cycle. The water in the
PWR is never vaporized and it does not drive the steam turbine. Because the water is not
vaporized in the PWR the reactor vessel can be smaller than that of a BWR. On the other
hand a PWR building is larger than a BWR building as it must also accommodate steam
generators and other equipment.

7 Reprocessing
Nuclear reprocessing uses chemical procedures to separate the useful components (especially
the remaining uranium and the newly-created plutonium) from the fission products and other
radioactive waste in spent nuclear fuel obtained from nuclear reactors. Reprocessing serves
multiple purposes, whose relative importance has changed over time. Originally reprocessing
was used solely to extract plutonium for producing nuclear weapons. With the
commercialization of nuclear power, the reprocessed plutonium was recycled back into MOX
nuclear fuel for thermal reactors. The reprocessed uranium, which constitutes the bulk of the
spent fuel material, can in principle also be re-used as fuel, but that is only economic when
uranium prices are high. Finally, the breeder reactor can employ not only the recycled
plutonium and uranium in spent fuel, but all the actinides, closing the nuclear fuel cycle and
potentially multiplying the energy extracted from natural uranium by more than 60 times.
Nuclear reprocessing also reduces the volume of high-level nuclear waste and its radiotoxicity,
allowing separate management (destruction or storage) of nuclear waste components.

Despite the energy and waste disposal benefits obtainable through nuclear reprocessing,
reprocessing has been politically controversial because of the potential to contribute to nuclear
proliferation, the potential vulnerability to nuclear terrorism, and because of its high cost

8 Waste Management
Operation of a nuclear power plant generates solid waste, some of which is more or less
radioactive. This waste is categorized into operational waste, decommissioning waste, and
spent nuclear fuel. The radioactive waste categories are divided into low, intermediate,
and high level radioactive waste. Depending on the amount of time the substances in the
waste remain radioactive yet another classification is short-lived and long-lived waste. The
spent fuel and control rods are high level waste. The operational waste is low and intermediate
level waste and consists of protective equipment, tools, and replaced components
from active areas of the nuclear power plant as well as filter substances.
Low level waste is treated either inside the nuclear power plant and subsequently
stored in a separate waste burying facility at the site, or processed together with the
intermediatelevel waste. After sorting and cleaning some low level waste will display such
a low activity as to be processed as normal non-active waste. This type of waste (exempt
waste) may be reused or deposited in a normal facility.
Intermediate level waste and some low level waste is transferred to SFR (Final
Repository for Radioactive Operational Waste).The waste will be stored and isolated until the
radioactivity has decayed to a safe level. Calculations indicate that in 500 years time the waste
will radiate less than the surrounding rock. Spent fuel is high level waste and is kept at the
nuclear power plant for one year, and after that for 30 years at CLAB (Central Interim Storage
Facility for Spent Nuclear Fuel),and finally encapsulated and placed in a final repository.
Other waste, e.g. non-radioactive waste is also generated.