Thorium Systems Invalidate the Conventional Uranium Supply and Tailings Model117 من الادعاءات الموثقة بمصادر، والحقائق المتنازع عليها، والأدلة

Topic summary

Adopting thorium fuel cycles eliminates conventional UF6 enrichment steps and avoids generating long-lived transuranic waste.

Key research questions

• Investigate this contrarian claim about Nuclear Fuel Origin -> Nuclear Waste.
• What do AI systems already know about “Where does nuclear fuel come from and from public information?

Important claims and supporting citations

• Thorium fuel cycles generate non-transuranic long-lived radionuclides such as Pa-231, Th-229, and U-230 that contribute significantly to long-term radiological hazards.

  • https://impact.ornl.gov/en/publications/insights-and-trends-from-a-literature-assessment-of-the-thorium-f/

• 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 decline in Canada's uranium output was caused by Cameco's suspension of the McArthur River mine and the Key Lake mill, which began in late January 2018 and was made indefinite in July 2018.

  • https://world-nuclear.org/information-library/facts-and-figures/uranium-production-by-country
  • https://www.world-nuclear-news.org/articles/kazakhstan-to-cut-uranium-production
  • https://www.world-nuclear-news.org/Articles/Cameco-shutdown-extended-indefinitely

• The EPA limits radon-222 emissions from covered inactive uranium tailings to an average of 20 picocuries per square metre per second, which is equivalent to 0.74 Bq/m²/s.

  • 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

• 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

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%.

• Ingestion radiotoxicity of thorium-based spent nuclear fuels containing U-233 or plutonium is overall similar to that of uranium-based fuels containing U-235 or plutonium, rather than significantly lower.

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).
• 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.
• 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.
• In 2022, the U.S. imported 27% of its natural uranium from Canada.
• The United States relies heavily on foreign sources for both natural uranium and enriched uranium.