EN S REG Nuclear fuel cycle European Nuclear Safety Regulators Group

Uranium, as it is mined from the earth's crust, is not directly useable The steps before electricity production - mining and milling, conver- for electricity generation in nuclear power plant. A number of proces- sion, enrichment, and fuel fabrication- are known as the 'front end' of sing steps must be carried out to fabricate uranium fuel that can be the cycle. After being used to produce electricity, the uranium beco- used e ciently to generate electricity. The various activities associa- mes 'spent fuel' and the 'back end' of the cycle begins. This may in- ted with the production of electricity from nuclear reactions are refer- clude: storage, reprocessing, recycling, and waste disposal. If spent red to collectively as the nuclear fuel cycle. The nuclear fuel cycle fuel is not reprocessed, the fuel cycle is referred to as an open fuel starts with the mining of uranium and ends with the disposal of nu- cycle (or a once-through fuel cycle). If the spent fuel is reprocessed, it clear waste. is referred to as a closed fuel cycle. 1 More than half of the uranium 2 cames from Canada, Kazachstan In the fuel fabrication and Australia. Before the ura- plant the enriched ura- nium ore is transported, it is nium is processed fuel concentrated about 200 to 300 elements. Fuel elements times into uranium oxide or 106 ton UF6 can also be made with ‘yellow cake’. depleted uranium and plutonium from used Not all of the uranium can be (or ’ spent’ ) fuel. used as fuel. In an enrichment plant, the usable uranium 2412 ton ton UF6 U (U-235) is further concentrated from 0,7% up to some 4 - 5 %. What remains (the by-product) U-Enrichment Fuel fabrication is called depleted uranium, since it contains less U-235 than 73 ton U 13,5 ton natural uranium. U- Fuel 3 13,5 ton is su cient U-Mines 11,5 ton U 115 kg Pu fuel for one year of electricty of a 500 MW nuclear power Nuclear power plant plant (PWR).

1 m3 high level radioactive waste Reprocessing 4 5 Some counries have a so- 13,5 ton U-fuel Other countries reprocess their called open fuel cycle. spent fuel. Reprocessing Waste storage Spent fuel is not reprocessed, means that the resuable sub- but directly send to interim stances (uranium and pluto- storage awaiting final disposal nium) are recovered from the in a deep geological repository. spent fuel to be used for the fa- brication of new fuel.

What remains is a small volume of high level radioactive waste. This is, similar to spent fuel, Eindberging stored before it is finally dispo- sed of in a deep geological res- pository. Source: World Nuclear Association 2006