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Measures of the Environmental Footprint of the Front End of the Nuclear Fuel Cycle

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Measures of the Environmental Footprint of the Front End of the Nuclear Fuel Cycle INL/EXT-10-20652 Measures of the Environmental Footprint of the Front End of the Nuclear Fuel Cycle Erich Schneider Brett W. Carlsen Emily Tavrides August 2010 The INL is a U.S. Department of Energy National Laboratory operated by Battelle Energy Alliance INL/EXT-10-20652 FCRD-SYSA-2010-000104 Measures of the Environmental Footprint of the Front End of the Nuclear Fuel Cycle Erich Schneider Brett W. Carlsen Emily Tavrides August 2010 Idaho National Laboratory Fuel Cycle Research & Development Idaho Falls, Idaho 83415 http://www.inl.gov Prepared for the U.S. Department of Energy Office of Nuclear Energy Under DOE Idaho Operations Office Contract DE-AC07-05ID14517 DISCLAIMER This information was prepared as an account of work sponsored by an agency of the U.S. Government. Neither the U.S. Government nor any agency thereof, nor any of their employees, makes any warranty, expressed or implied, or assumes any legal liability or responsibility for the accuracy, completeness, or usefulness, of any information, apparatus, product, or process disclosed, or represents that its use would not infringe privately owned rights. References herein to any specific commercial product, process, or service by trade name, trade mark, manufacturer, or otherwise, does not necessarily constitute or imply its endorsement, recommendation, or favoring by the U.S. Government or any agency thereof. The views and opinions of authors expressed herein do not necessarily state or reflect those of the U.S. Government or any agency thereof. Measures of the Environmental Footprint of the Front End of the Nuclear Fuel Cycle August 23, 2010 iii EXECUTIVE SUMMARY Previous estimates of environmental impacts associated with the front end of the nuclear fuel cycle (FEFC) have focused primarily on energy consumption and CO2 emissions. Results have varied widely. This study revises existing empirical correlations and their underlying assumptions to fit to a more complete set of actual data. This study also addresses land transformation, water withdrawals, and occupational and public health impacts associated with the processes of the FEFC. These processes include uranium mining, milling, refining, conversion, enrichment, and fuel fabrication. To allow summing the impacts across processes, all impacts were normalized per tonne of natural uranium mined and then translated into impacts per MWh(e), a more conventional unit for measuring environmental impacts that facilitates comparison with other studies. This conversion was based on mass balances and process efficiencies associated with the current once-through LWR fuel cycle described in Appendix A. Estimates of the environmental impacts of the FEFC are summarized in Table Exec-1. Quantified impacts are limited to those resulting from activities performed within the FEFC process facilities (i.e. within the plant gates). Energy embodied in material inputs such as process chemicals and fuel cladding is identified but not explicitly quantified in this study. Inclusion of indirect energy associated with embodied energy as well as construction and decommissioning of facilities could increase the FEFC energy estimate by a factor of up to ~2. Table Exec-1. Contemporary footprint measures normalized per MWh electricity produced Energy Consumption Collective Dose Thermal: Thermal: liquid other CO2 Workers Public Electrical carriers carriers Emissions Water Land Use person- person- 2 GJ(e)/ GJ(t)/ GJ(t)/ kg CO2/ Use L/ m / rem/ rem/ MWh(e) MWh(e) MWh(e) MWh(e) MWh(e) MWh(e) MWh(e) MWh(e) Uranium 4.0x10-3 1.3x10-3 1.6x10-3 0.78 130 7.5x10-3 8.7x10-6 1.4x10-5 extractiona Conversion 1.1x10-3 NA 2.5x10-2 1.45 2.1 1.2x10-5 1.7 x10-7 2.7x10-9 Enrichment 2.7x10-3 NA NA 0.41 0.65 1.3x10-4 8.6x10-10 2.8x10-9 (centrifuge) Fuel Fab. 5.2x10-4 NA 1.8x10-4 0.09 0.35 1.3x10-5 4.7x10-7 5.9x10-10 (UOX) DU Man- 2.0x10-4 1.8x10-6 7.2x10-5 0.035 0.23 1.9x10-4 Not Available agementb Transport- NA 1.6x10-4 NA 0.011 NA NA 7.9x10-8 1.5x10-8 ationc Totals ~8.5x10-3 ~1.5x10-3 ~2.7x10-2 ~2.8 ~130 ~8X10-3 ~9.5x10-6 ~1.4x10-5 a. Includes mining, milling and refining based on current mix of mining technologies (23% open pit, 41% underground, and 36% in-situ leaching). b. Assumes DU conversion to DU3O8 and shallow land burial. c. Assumes PWR fuel transported by truck a distance of 1000 km between each of the following process facilities: mining/milling, conversion, enrichment, DU disposition, fuel fabrication, and power plant. Measures of the Environmental Footprint of the Front End of the Nuclear Fuel Cycle iv August 23, 2010 With the exception of water use, these impacts are very favorable relative to other competing technologies for large-scale energy production. For example, front-end processes have been estimated to account for 38% of the carbon footprint associated with production of electricity from nuclear energy (see Table 2.3). Scaling the above estimate for FEFC emissions accordingly, one estimates 7.4 kg CO2/MWh(e) for nuclear electricity production . For comparison, current average U.S. emissions from natural gas and coal- fired electricity production are 410 and 979 kg CO2/MWh(e), respectively. The estimates given in the foregoing table depend upon a number of parameters that are expected to evolve with time. These include the ratio of ore to overburden and grade of the ore (i.e. % U), the mix and energy efficiency of the technologies used in the FEFC, and the rate of expansion of the nuclear industry. This study considers this time-dependency. Projections intended to bound emissions impacts for the range of plausible mid-century scenarios are summarized in Table Exec-2. Table Exec-2. FEFC CO2 emissions, 2050 scenarios kg CO2/MWh(e) 2050 2050 Current Low High Uranium extraction 0.78 0.35 2.17 Conversion 1.45 1.30 1.39 Enrichment (centrifuge) 0.41 0.01 0.26 Fuel Fab (UOX) 0.09 0.02 0.06 DU Management 0.035 0.01 0.02 Transportation 0.011 0.01 0.01 Total ~2.8 ~1.7 ~3.9 The above results scale linearly (inverse relationship) with uranium utilization. Because the current once- through LWR fuel cycle utilizes less than 1% of the energy in the natural uranium, the evolution of the nuclear fuel cycle is an important variable with respect to predicting future environmental impacts as well as extending the life of uranium reserves. The nature of the debate surrounding the future of nuclear power is not politically neutral. And previously reported estimates of its environmental impacts are diverse. Consequently, an important objective of this report is to be fully transparent with respect to input data, assumptions, methods, and calculations. Thorough and open review is encouraged. Please send comments, suggestions, and feedback to [email protected] and/or [email protected]. Measures of the Environmental Footprint of the Front End of the Nuclear Fuel Cycle August 23, 2010 v CONTENTS EXECUTIVE SUMMARY ......................................................................................................................... iii ACRONYMS ............................................................................................................................................. xiii 1. INTRODUCTION .............................................................................................................................. 1 1.1 Objective .................................................................................................................................. 1 1.2 Report Organization ................................................................................................................. 3 1.3 References ................................................................................................................................ 3 2. SCOPE AND METHODOLOGY ...................................................................................................... 4 2.1 General Methodology .............................................................................................................. 4 2.2 The Front End Carbon Footprint: Methods and Review of Studies ......................................... 6 2.3 References ................................................................................................................................ 9 3. URANIUM MINING, MILLING AND REFINING ....................................................................... 10 3.1 Energy Intensity ..................................................................................................................... 11 3.1.1 Consumption breakdown by energy carrier .............................................................. 17 3.1.2 Energy Intensity Model ............................................................................................. 21 3.2 Carbon Footprint .................................................................................................................... 28 3.3 Land Use ................................................................................................................................ 32 3.4 Water Use ............................................................................................................................... 35 3.5 Occupational and Public Health ............................................................................................. 38 3.6 Projecting the Evolution of the Energy Balance .................................................................... 39 3.7 Summary ...............................................................................................................................
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