The linked production, use and subsequent management of nuclear fuel. A closed cycle recovers some material for reuse; it still generates radioactive wastes.
The operating interval between specified refuelling events. It must be distinguished from the full material nuclear fuel cycle and from an individual fuel batch's multi-cycle residence time. Reactivity history, thermal limits and fuel management constrain the achievable interval.
An increase in the fraction of a specified uranium isotope. Fuel-cycle accounting tracks feed, product, enrichment tails and separative work; it does not specify an uranium enrichment plant or its operating conditions.
A technology exploiting mass-dependent redistribution of gas under rotation. It became the dominant commercial uranium-enrichment technology with much lower electricity consumption than gaseous diffusion. No operating conditions or equipment specifications are supplied.
A historical isotope-enrichment technology using the different transport of isotopic gas molecules through a barrier. It was displaced commercially by much less electricity-intensive centrifuge technology. This is a historical principle, not a plant design or operating procedure.
A unit of isotope-separation work used in fuel-cycle accounting. If stream masses are in kilograms and is isotope mass fraction, is in kg-SWU, with . This is a resource-accounting relation, not equipment or cascade design.
The depleted material stream in isotope uranium enrichment. enrichment tails retain uranium, so gross feed demand exceeds the enriched product mass.
The stated mass or atom fraction of a selected fuel isotope. An isotope balance requires all streams to use the same convention; a mass fraction is not interchangeable with an atom fraction without conversion.
A concentrated uranium-bearing product of ore processing. Resource accounts must distinguish mass of uranium from gross mass of its oxide concentrate.
A fuel cycle returning recovered constituents to fuel manufacture. Recovery losses, additional waste streams and recycled-fuel specifications affect the resource and cost balance.
A once-through fuel cycle in which spent nuclear fuel is managed without recovering its constituents for a further fuel irradiation.
Chemical treatment of spent nuclear fuel to partition reusable constituents from wastes. Recovery does not eliminate the need for waste conditioning and disposal. This article concerns concepts and material accounting, not operational fissile-separation procedures.
uranium recovered from spent nuclear fuel. Its isotopic composition differs from natural uranium; uranium-236 can impose an additional fuel-performance penalty.
Irradiated nuclear fuel removed from a reactor. Residual actinides coexist with fission products and activation products; radioactivity and decay heat continue after shutdown.
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The nuclear fuel cycle refers to the series of processes involved in the production and use of nuclear fuel, particularly for generating electricity in nuclear power plants. It encompasses several stages, from the extraction of raw materials to the management of nuclear waste. The main components of the nuclear fuel cycle are as follows: 1. **Uranium Mining and Milling**: The cycle begins with the extraction of uranium ore from the earth, which can be done through conventional mining, in-situ recovery, or other methods.