1. IAEA Sources of Radiation Fuel Cycle - Overview Day 4 – Lecture 5 (1) 1

2. IAEA Objective To have an overview of the elements of Fuel Cycle starting from Uranium mining to waste disposal*: Mining Milling Conversion Enrichment Fuel Fabrication Power Generation Spent Fuel Reprocessing Waste Disposal *Note: These elements of fuel cycle will be discussed in detail in the following presentations 2

3. IAEA Contents Energy Resources Uranium Resources Other Sources of Fuel Properties of Uranium Fuel Cycle Components 3

4. IAEA Overview In this session we will discuss the Nuclear Fuel Cycle including: Mining Milling Conversion Enrichment Fuel Fabrication Power Generation Spent Fuel Reprocessing Waste Disposal 4

5. IAEA Energy Resources 5

6. IAEA ppm Source (part per million)* Typical Uranium Concentrations 6 Very high-grade ore (Canada) - 20% U 200,000 ppm U High-grade ore - 2% U,20,000 ppm U Low-grade ore - 0.1% U,1,000 ppm U Very low-grade ore* (Namibia) - 0.01% U 100 ppm U Granite3-5 ppm U Sedimentary rock2-3 ppm U Earth's continental crust (av) 2.8 ppm U Seawater0.003 ppm U * Data from WNA (August 2012) http://www.world-nuclear.org/info/Nuclear-Fuel- Cycle/Uranium-Resources/Supply-of-Uranium/

7. IAEA Countrytonnes percentage of world* Australia1,661,00031% Kazakhstan629,00012% Russian Fed. 487,2009% Canada468,7009% Niger421,0008% South Africa279,1005% Brazil 276,7005% Namibia261,0005% USA 207,4004% China166,1003% Ukraine119,6002% Uzbekistan96,2002% Others253,5005% World Total 5,327,200 * Data from WNA (August 2012) Known Recoverable Uranium Resources 7 http://www.world-nuclear.org/info/Nuclear-Fuel-Cycle/Uranium- Resources/Supply-of-Uranium/

8. IAEA Uranium Decay Chain  Primary Isotopes  238 U - alpha emitter  235 U and 234 U – alpha/gamma emitters  Decay Products  231 Th and 234 Th - beta/gamma emitters  234m Pa - beta/gamma emitter 8

9. IAEA  Decommissioned Nuclear Weapons  over 90% 235 U (must be downblended for commercial fuel)  Thorium  coverts to 233 U after neutron capture  3 times more abundant than uranium Other Sources of Fuel 9

10. IAEA Natural uranium consists of three isotopes: Isotope % AbundanceHalf Life (10 6 years) 238 U99.2844,500 235 U0.711704 234 U0.0050.245 Properties of Natural Uranium 10

11. IAEA Uranium Properties 238 U is most abundant 234 U increases with enrichment Note activity ratios 0.0001 0.001 0.01 0.1 1 10 100 Natural Uranium Isotope Percent U-238 U-235 U-234 LEU Depleted

12. IAEA Uranium Specific Activity Type (enrichment) Specific Activity (Bq/gram) Depleted (0.2%)1.5 x 10 4 Natural (0.71%)2.6 x 10 4 Enriched (4%)8.9 x 10 4 Enriched (93%)4.1 x 10 6

13. IAEA Uranium Compounds UF 6 produced at conversion plants U 3 O 8 is yellowcake from milling UO 2 is dominant fuel type (ceramic) used to produce pellets UF 4 is intermediate form in conversion Uranyl nitrate is important in recovery 13

14. IAEA Fuel Cycle 14

15. IAEA Fuel Cycle Around the World 15

16. IAEA Reference  http://www.world-nuclear.org/info/Nuclear-Fuel- Cycle/Uranium-Resources/Supply-of-Uranium/  International Atomic Energy Agency, Postgraduate Educational Course in Radiation Protection and the Safety of Radiation Sources (PGEC), Training Course Series 18, IAEA, Vienna (2002) 16