Uranium Fuel Cycle 1

2 Conventional Mining: Underground/Open Pit Ranger, Australia, Northern Territories Olympic Dam, South Australia

3 ISR: Drilling – Well Construction

4 ISR: Minimum Disturbance of Environment

5 ISR Plant – Schematic

6 ISR Plant – Beverley, South Australia

7 Ion Exchange Resins

Beverley Plant – Impressions IX columns Filtration units Yellowcake Sampling The product

9 BACKUP

General Atomics Proprietary Data 10 SiC-SiC Composite Cladding has Potential to Significantly Improve Safety of Light Water Reactors Zr + 2H 2 O  ZrO 2 + 2H 2 For Zircaloy, destruction by steam reaction occurs at lower temp than fuel melt Fukushima Daiichi Eliminate hydrogen explosions SiC + 4H 2 O  SiO 2 + CO 2 + 4H 2 For SiC/SiC, structural failure occurs at lower temp than steam reaction At higher temps (~1400 o C) Zircaloy reaction heat exceeds decay heat

General Atomics Proprietary Data Comparison of EM 2 vs Fukushima Plant To Earthquake & Tsunami 9.0 magnitude earth quake/tsunami: reactor vessels and containments are intact but all electrical power is severed Fukushima Without power, cooling systems are inoperable Fuel heats up causing high pressure and hydrogen producing reactions from zircalloy clad External means of cooling is needed until power to cooling systems is restored Reactor cooling by natural convection – no power needed Silicon-carbide clad does not react with helium coolant at high temperature Walk-away safe – no external intervention needed air draft heat exchanger Grade level EM 2 Redundant shutdown cooling Reactor Turbine- generator Leak-tight, below-grade containment

12 Fuel Resources for Electric Power Generation in the U.S.A. Depleted uranium (DU)/ Used nuclear fuel (UNF) inventories 8 TBbl Depleted Uranium 1 TBbl Used Nuclear Fuel Energy supply for > 300 years electric power generation U.S. Energy Reserves (Trillion Bbls Oil Energy Equivalent)

General Atomics Proprietary Data 13 Graphite reflector BeO reflector B 4 C neutron Shield Core support floor 316L Starter Conversion Control drum location StarterFertile LEU: ~ 12% Low- enriched uranium DU: Depleted uranium TRU: Transuranics UNF: Used nuclear fuel MOX: Mixed U/Pu oxides NU: Natural uranium Recycled EM 2 discharge 30% 232 Th 70% 238 U “Convert & Burn” reactor achieves a 30-year fuel life by converting 238 U to 239 Pu and burning in situ

General Atomics Proprietary Data LWR Waste DisposalEM 2 Waste Disposal Deep geologic repository Million year life Large storage capacity Long term heat Long term radioactivity Above ground storage 400 year life Small storage capacity Short term heat Short term radioactivity EM 2 Changes the Game Relative to Nuclear Waste

General Atomics Proprietary Data 15 BACKUP 2

16 ISR Mining Process Groundwater pumped to surface (at start-up) Small amount of acid and oxidant added Water pumped back into aquifer Uranium leached Water pumped to surface Uranium recovered by ion exchange (IX) Water recycled [up to 100 recycles (pore volume exchanges)]

17 Leaching Chemistry Uranium ore –Uranium as U(IV) fixed in minerals, e.g. pitchblende UO 2, coffinite USiO 4 Mobilization of uranium by oxidation and complexation –Uranium needs to be oxidized to U(VI) to form soluble uranyl ions UO 2 2- Leaching methods –Alkaline (carbonate) leaching: UO 2 (CO 3 ) 2 2- and higher-order complexes –Acidic (sulfuric acid) leaching: UO 2 (SO 4 ) 2 2- and higher-order complexes –Application of oxidants: O 2, H 2 O 2

18 Uranium Recovery Mining solution contains anionic uranyl complexes like UO 2 (CO 3 ) 2 2- or UO 2 (SO 4 ) 2 2- Recovery from mining solution by ion-exchange (IX) –Resin (in form of beads at mm diameter) –Resin beds in big columns (about 2-4 m diameter, 3-10 m height) –Mining fluid passes IX columns and recycles to wellfields –Uranium is adsorbed on the resin Strip of uranium from IX resin by highly-ionic solution, e.g. salt solutions (NaCl) Further processing includes precipitation of uranium as uranium oxide, thickening, de-watering, drying, packaging

19 ISR – Hydrogeology For ISR mining, ore body must have following properties: –Ore body must be in an aquifer (sedimentary formation) –Aquifer sediments must be permeable –Aquifer should be vertically confined (above and below) by impermeable layers

20 Beverley ISR Mine – Processing Plant