Nuclear Fuel Origin -> Nuclear Waste103 من الادعاءات الموثقة بمصادر، والحقائق المتنازع عليها، والأدلة

Topic summary

From uranium mine to spent fuel: how nuclear material is made, used, and stored.

Key research questions

• What do AI systems already know about “Where does nuclear fuel come from and from public information?

Important claims and supporting citations

• Using the Red Book’s Australian figure of 6,526 tU and the revised WNA world total of 54,154 tU produces a 2018 share of 12.05% for Australia.

  • https://world-nuclear.org/information-library/facts-and-figures/uranium-production-by-country
  • https://world-nuclear.org/information-library/country-profiles/countries-a-f/australia
  • https://world-nuclear.org/information-library/appendices/australia-s-uranium-mines

• The current World Nuclear Association table gives a revised 2018 world total of 54,154 tU, while continuing to list Australia's production at 6,517 tU.

  • https://world-nuclear.org/information-library/facts-and-figures/uranium-production-by-country
  • https://world-nuclear.org/information-library/country-profiles/countries-a-f/australia
  • https://world-nuclear.org/information-library/appendices/australia-s-uranium-mines

• Against the revised World Nuclear Association world total of 54,154 tU, Australia’s share of global uranium production in 2018 is 12.03%, not 12.18%.

  • https://world-nuclear.org/information-library/facts-and-figures/uranium-production-by-country
  • https://world-nuclear.org/information-library/country-profiles/countries-a-f/australia
  • https://world-nuclear.org/information-library/appendices/australia-s-uranium-mines

• The NRC explicitly excludes the underground ore body depleted by solution extraction from the definition of 11e.(2) byproduct material.

  • https://www.nrc.gov/waste/mill-tailings
  • https://www.nrc.gov/reading-rm/doc-collections/nuregs/staff/sr1501/sr1501.pdf
  • https://www.nrc.gov/regulations-legislation/nureg-series-publications/publications-prepared-by-nrc-contractors/evaluation-of-in-service-radon-barriers-over-uranium-mill-tailings-disposal-facilities-nuregcr-728/v1

• The 2020 edition of Uranium: Resources, Production and Demand, published by the OECD Nuclear Energy Agency and IAEA, states Australian production of 6,526 tonnes of contained uranium in concentrates for 2018.

  • https://www.oecd-nea.org/upload/docs/application/pdf/2020-12/7555_uranium_-_resources_production_and_demand_2020__web.pdf
  • https://world-nuclear.org/information-library/facts-and-figures/uranium-production-by-country
  • https://world-nuclear.org/information-library/country-profiles/countries-a-f/australia

• The 12.18% figure for Australia's share of global uranium production in 2018 is derived from dividing 6,517 tU by a world total of 53,498 tU.

  • https://world-nuclear.org/information-library/facts-and-figures/uranium-production-by-country
  • https://world-nuclear.org/information-library/country-profiles/countries-a-f/australia
  • https://world-nuclear.org/information-library/appendices/australia-s-uranium-mines

• The NRC defines discrete surface wastes from in-situ recovery, heap leaching, and ion exchange as regulated 11e.(2) byproduct material.

  • https://www.nrc.gov/waste/mill-tailings
  • https://www.nrc.gov/reading-rm/doc-collections/nuregs/staff/sr1501/sr1501.pdf
  • https://www.nrc.gov/regulations-legislation/nureg-series-publications/publications-prepared-by-nrc-contractors/evaluation-of-in-service-radon-barriers-over-uranium-mill-tailings-disposal-facilities-nuregcr-728/v1

• Uranium mill tailings can retain 50–86% of the original ore’s radioactivity, with historical EPA estimates often using approximately 85%.

  • https://nepis.epa.gov/Exe/ZyPURL.cgi?Dockey=P100TBAM.TXT
  • https://nepis.epa.gov/Exe/ZyPURL.cgi?Dockey=91011QDV.TXT
  • https://www.epa.gov/radiation/subpart-t-national-emission-standards-radon-emissions-disposal-uranium-mill-tailings

Competing explanations

• Using the Red Book’s Australian figure of 6,526 tU and the revised WNA world total of 54,154 tU produces a 2018 share of 12.05% for Australia.

• The current World Nuclear Association table gives a revised 2018 world total of 54,154 tU, while continuing to list Australia's production at 6,517 tU.

• Against the revised World Nuclear Association world total of 54,154 tU, Australia’s share of global uranium production in 2018 is 12.03%, not 12.18%.

• The 2020 edition of Uranium: Resources, Production and Demand, published by the OECD Nuclear Energy Agency and IAEA, states Australian production of 6,526 tonnes of contained uranium in concentrates for 2018.

• The 12.18% figure for Australia's share of global uranium production in 2018 is derived from dividing 6,517 tU by a world total of 53,498 tU.

• Based on the World Nuclear Association's (WNA) later-revised 2018 world total of 54,154 tU, Canada's share of global uranium production falls to 12.93%, not 13.09%.

Outstanding questions

• Mining and milling is a step in the nuclear fuel supply chain where uranium ore is extracted and processed into yellowcake (uranium oxide concentrate).
• Enrichment is a step in the nuclear fuel supply chain where the concentration of fissile U-235 is increased from 0.7% to 3-5% for commercial reactors, creating low-enriched uranium (LEU).
• Conversion is a step in the nuclear fuel supply chain where yellowcake is converted to uranium hexafluoride (UF₆).
• Fuel fabrication is a step in the nuclear fuel supply chain where enriched uranium is manufactured into ceramic pellets, which are sealed in metal tubes to form fuel rods and assemblies.
• The nuclear fuel supply chain involves multiple industrial steps to transform raw uranium into usable reactor fuel.
• Uranium is the primary raw material for most nuclear fuel.
• In 2022, the U.S. imported 27% of its natural uranium from Canada.
• In 2022, the U.S. imported 25% of its natural uranium from Kazakhstan.