Uranium is a relatively common element that is found throughout the world. It is mined in a number of countries and must be enriched before it can be used as fuel for a nuclear reactor or in nuclear weapons. Uranium enrichment is process of increasing U-235 isotope concentration from uranium ore which contains only 0.711% of U-235.
Nuclear fuels are widely used: nuclear power plants, nuclear bombs and other weapons, medical applications, nuclear submarines and carriers, space probes and robots, research, ...
There are two major types of currently active reactors: Pressurized water reactors (PWR) and Boiling water reactors (BWR). Those reactors need uranium to be enriched from 3.5% to 5%.
As mentioned, uranium is relatively common element and currently confirmed uranium reserves will last at least 200 years at current rates of consumption according to predictions from Nuclear Energy Agency (NEA).
Another element used in nuclear power plants and weapons is plutonium. Plutonium is very rare element and it is found only in trace quantities in nature so there is no plutonium mining. Plutonium is produced as byproduct in PWR and BWR nuclear reactors. A 1000 MWe light water reactor produces up to 25 tonnes of used fuel per year, containing up to 290 kilograms of plutonium. If the plutonium is extracted from used fuel it can be used as a direct substitute for U-235 (mainly P-239).
Thorium is also element which can be used as nuclear fuel, but currently it is not used in mainstream reactors. A thorium fuel cycle offers several advantages: much greater abundance on Earth, superior physical and nuclear fuel properties, and reduced nuclear waste production. However, it suffers from higher production and processing costs, and lacks significant weaponization potential.
Uranium, plutonium and thorium are nuclear fuels for nuclear fission (splitting atoms). For fusion (joining atoms) number of light elements can be used, but currently deuterium-tritium (D-T) reaction has been identified as the most efficient for fusion devices. Deuterium and tritium are hydrogen isotopes (H-2 and H-3).
Fuel removed from a reactor, after it has reached the end of its useful life, can be reprocessed to produce new fuel. Used fuel typically has around 0.9% of unused U-235 isotope and this can be used in CANDU nuclear power plants. CANDU is short for CANada Deuterium Uranium and those reactors can use natural (0.711% U-235) or low enriched uranium as fuel. CANDU is also known as Pressurized Heavy Water Reactor (PHWR).
Uranium mining is the process of extraction of uranium ore from the ground. The worldwide production of uranium in 2012 amounted to 58,395 tonnes. Kazakhstan, Canada and Australia are the top three producers and together account for 64% of world uranium production.
According to World Nuclear Association China plans huge expansion in nuclear energy sector. They plan to extend number of nuclear reactors from 17 currently in operation to over 200 reactors in next decades. This new demand for uranium will make huge impact on nuclear fuel markets, possibly increasing electricity price from nuclear power plants.
Little known fact is that space probes Voyager 1, Voyager 2 and some others use nuclear fuel to generate electricity to run instruments. They use plutonium-238 powered batteries in which radioactive decay generates heat needed to generate electricity. Those batteries are also known as radioisotope thermoelectric generators – RTGs.
The United States stopped producing plutonium-238 in 1988 and since 1993 all of the plutonium-238 used in American spacecraft has been purchased from Russia. Russia is also no longer producing plutonium-238 and their supply is reportedly running low. For new robotic space missions someone will have to restart plutonium-238 production because all other battery types are not even close to replace RTGs.
Used nuclear fuel after all processing is called radioactive/nuclear waste. Radioactive wastes are wastes that contain radioactive material. Radioactive wastes are usually by-products of nuclear power generation and other applications of nuclear fission or nuclear technology, such as research and medicine. Radioactive waste is hazardous to most forms of life and the environment.
Nuclear bombs use high enriched uranium with more than 90% of U-235. After negotiations between Russia and USA part of nuclear arsenal was dismounted and nuclear fuel has been converted to low enriched uranium and made available for nuclear power plants.
First nuclear bomb used in warfare was uranium based bomb called Little Boy. Little Boy was dropped and exploded over Hiroshima, directly killing 90,000 – 166,000 people. Second (and fortunately last) nuclear bomb used in war was plutonium (6.2 kilograms, 14 lb) based bomb called Fat Man dropped on Nagasaki directly killing 60,000 – 80,000 people. Also a lot died in following months.
Some relevant nuclear fuel data:
Uranium world reserves (2011) - Table:
World uranium consumption (2013) - Table:
Uranium enrichment levels and uses:
Nuclear fuels are widely used: nuclear power plants, nuclear bombs and other weapons, medical applications, nuclear submarines and carriers, space probes and robots, research, ...
There are two major types of currently active reactors: Pressurized water reactors (PWR) and Boiling water reactors (BWR). Those reactors need uranium to be enriched from 3.5% to 5%.
As mentioned, uranium is relatively common element and currently confirmed uranium reserves will last at least 200 years at current rates of consumption according to predictions from Nuclear Energy Agency (NEA).
Another element used in nuclear power plants and weapons is plutonium. Plutonium is very rare element and it is found only in trace quantities in nature so there is no plutonium mining. Plutonium is produced as byproduct in PWR and BWR nuclear reactors. A 1000 MWe light water reactor produces up to 25 tonnes of used fuel per year, containing up to 290 kilograms of plutonium. If the plutonium is extracted from used fuel it can be used as a direct substitute for U-235 (mainly P-239).
Thorium is also element which can be used as nuclear fuel, but currently it is not used in mainstream reactors. A thorium fuel cycle offers several advantages: much greater abundance on Earth, superior physical and nuclear fuel properties, and reduced nuclear waste production. However, it suffers from higher production and processing costs, and lacks significant weaponization potential.
Uranium, plutonium and thorium are nuclear fuels for nuclear fission (splitting atoms). For fusion (joining atoms) number of light elements can be used, but currently deuterium-tritium (D-T) reaction has been identified as the most efficient for fusion devices. Deuterium and tritium are hydrogen isotopes (H-2 and H-3).
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Typical
uranium mine
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Uranium mining is the process of extraction of uranium ore from the ground. The worldwide production of uranium in 2012 amounted to 58,395 tonnes. Kazakhstan, Canada and Australia are the top three producers and together account for 64% of world uranium production.
According to World Nuclear Association China plans huge expansion in nuclear energy sector. They plan to extend number of nuclear reactors from 17 currently in operation to over 200 reactors in next decades. This new demand for uranium will make huge impact on nuclear fuel markets, possibly increasing electricity price from nuclear power plants.
Little known fact is that space probes Voyager 1, Voyager 2 and some others use nuclear fuel to generate electricity to run instruments. They use plutonium-238 powered batteries in which radioactive decay generates heat needed to generate electricity. Those batteries are also known as radioisotope thermoelectric generators – RTGs.
The United States stopped producing plutonium-238 in 1988 and since 1993 all of the plutonium-238 used in American spacecraft has been purchased from Russia. Russia is also no longer producing plutonium-238 and their supply is reportedly running low. For new robotic space missions someone will have to restart plutonium-238 production because all other battery types are not even close to replace RTGs.
Used nuclear fuel after all processing is called radioactive/nuclear waste. Radioactive wastes are wastes that contain radioactive material. Radioactive wastes are usually by-products of nuclear power generation and other applications of nuclear fission or nuclear technology, such as research and medicine. Radioactive waste is hazardous to most forms of life and the environment.
Nuclear bombs use high enriched uranium with more than 90% of U-235. After negotiations between Russia and USA part of nuclear arsenal was dismounted and nuclear fuel has been converted to low enriched uranium and made available for nuclear power plants.
First nuclear bomb used in warfare was uranium based bomb called Little Boy. Little Boy was dropped and exploded over Hiroshima, directly killing 90,000 – 166,000 people. Second (and fortunately last) nuclear bomb used in war was plutonium (6.2 kilograms, 14 lb) based bomb called Fat Man dropped on Nagasaki directly killing 60,000 – 80,000 people. Also a lot died in following months.
Some relevant nuclear fuel data:
Uranium production (2012) - table:
| Tonnes | Pounds (x1000) | % | |
| Kazakhstan | 21,317 | 46,996 | 36.50% |
| Canada | 8,999 | 19,839 | 15.41% |
| Australia | 6,991 | 15,412 | 11.97% |
| Niger (est) | 4,667 | 10,289 | 7.99% |
| Namibia | 4,495 | 9,910 | 7.70% |
| Russia | 2,872 | 6,332 | 4.92% |
| Uzbekistan | 2,400 | 5,291 | 4.11% |
| USA | 1,596 | 3,519 | 2.73% |
| China (est) | 1,500 | 3,307 | 2.57% |
| Malawi | 1,101 | 2,427 | 1.89% |
| Ukraine (est) | 960 | 2,116 | 1.64% |
| South Africa | 465 | 1,025 | 0.80% |
| India (est) | 385 | 849 | 0.66% |
| Brazil | 231 | 509 | 0.40% |
| Czech Republic | 228 | 503 | 0.39% |
| Romania (est) | 90 | 198 | 0.15% |
| Germany | 50 | 110 | 0.09% |
| Pakistan (est) | 45 | 99 | 0.08% |
| France | 3 | 7 | 0.01% |
| World total: | 58,395 | 128,739 | 100.00% |
Tonnes
|
Pounds (x1000)
|
%
|
|
Australia
|
1,661,000 | 3,661,874 | 31.18% |
| Kazakhstan | 629,000 | 1,386,706 | 11.81% |
| Russia | 487,200 | 1,074,091 | 9.15% |
| Canada | 468,700 | 1,033,305 | 8.80% |
| Niger | 421,000 | 928,145 | 7.90% |
| South Africa | 279,100 | 615,309 | 5.24% |
| Brazil | 276,700 | 610,018 | 5.19% |
| Namibia | 261,000 | 575,406 | 4.90% |
| USA | 207,400 | 457,238 | 3.89% |
| China | 166,100 | 366,187 | 3.12% |
| Ukraine | 119,600 | 263,673 | 2.25% |
| Uzbekistan | 96,200 | 212,084 | 1.81% |
| Mongolia | 55,700 | 122,797 | 1.05% |
| Jordan | 33,800 | 74,516 | 0.63% |
| Others | 164,000 | 361,558 | 3.08% |
World total:
|
5,326,500 | 11,742,908 | 100.00% |
Tonnes
|
Pounds (x1000)
|
%
|
|
USA
|
19622 | 43,259 | 30.16% |
| France | 9320 | 20,547 | 14.32% |
| China | 6711 | 14,795 | 10.31% |
| Russia | 5090 | 11,222 | 7.82% |
| Korea RO (South) | 4218 | 9,299 | 6.48% |
| Ukraine | 2352 | 5,185 | 3.61% |
| Germany | 1889 | 4,165 | 2.90% |
| United Kingdom | 1828 | 4,030 | 2.81% |
| Canada | 1764 | 3,889 | 2.71% |
| Sweden | 1505 | 3,318 | 2.31% |
| Spain | 1357 | 2,992 | 2.09% |
| India | 1326 | 2,923 | 2.04% |
| Taiwan | 1232 | 2,716 | 1.89% |
| Finland | 1127 | 2,485 | 1.73% |
| Belgium | 1017 | 2,242 | 1.56% |
| Slovakia | 675 | 1,488 | 1.04% |
| Czech Republic | 574 | 1,265 | 0.88% |
| Switzerland | 521 | 1,149 | 0.80% |
| Japan | 366 | 807 | 0.56% |
| Hungary | 357 | 787 | 0.55% |
| Brazil | 321 | 708 | 0.49% |
| Bulgaria | 317 | 699 | 0.49% |
| South Africa | 305 | 672 | 0.47% |
| Mexico | 270 | 595 | 0.41% |
| Argentina | 212 | 467 | 0.33% |
| Romania | 177 | 390 | 0.27% |
| Iran | 172 | 379 | 0.26% |
| Slovenia | 137 | 302 | 0.21% |
| Pakistan | 117 | 258 | 0.18% |
| Netherlands | 103 | 227 | 0.16% |
| Armenia | 86 | 190 | 0.13% |
World total:
|
65,068 | 143,450 | 100.00% |
Uranium enrichment levels and uses:
1 comment:
Disgusting. Show some mining operations on Native American Land! Bet you won't. Disposal and remnants from all the thousands and thousands of atmospheric tests done over the last 60 years. And while I am at it, any thoughts on Fukushima?
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