Energy and Environment Week 12

Reasons for nuclear demand spike

electricity demand, decarbonization, politics, aging infrastructure, Iran war

Uranium sources

Uranium rich sandstone, uranium bearing veins in rock, 2.2 bya placer deposits

Mining done through conventional vs in-situ leach mining

Nuclear fuel cycle

After mining, uranium is converted into yellowcake, where it is enriched and turned into uranium dioxide to be turned into pellets, and finally fuel rods

Light and heavy water reactors

normal water (H20) vs deuterium oxide (D20). Heavy water reactors require no enriched uranium, but heavy water is harder to obtain

High level nuclear waste

spent fuel with excessive amounts of radiation still present. At least 10 half lives (250000 yrs) are required before material is no longer a hazard

stay in onsite spent fuel pools for 5 years, then dry cask storage, and then in an underground repository

Mill tailings

Nuclear waste with relatively low concentrations of radioactive material and residuals

Reprocessing

separating residual uranium and plutonium from the fission products of the reactor; allows us to recycle spent fuel. Increases sustainability and lessens dependence on mining uranium

Nuclear costs

• Cost of building plants is very high due to time and materials spent

• regulatory processes and legal implications

• acquisition of licenses to build plants

• takes 3-15 years sometimes

• wind and solar + storage are cheaper