A little goes a long way

City Journal ^ | Winter 2005 | Peter W. Huber, Mark P. Mills

[sefarkas]

Your typical city dweller doesn’t know just how much coal and uranium he burns each year. On Lake Shore Drive in Chicago—where the numbers are fairly representative of urban America as a whole—the answer is (roughly): four tons and a few ounces. In round numbers, tons of coal generate about half of the typical city’s electric power; ounces of uranium, about 17 percent; natural gas and hydro take care of the rest. New York is a bit different: an apartment dweller on the Upper West Side substitutes two tons of oil (or the equivalent in natural gas) for Chicago’s four tons of coal. The oil-tons get burned at plants like the huge oil/gas unit in Astoria, Queens. The uranium ounces get split at Indian Point in Westchester, 35 miles north of the city, as well as at the Ginna, Fitzpatrick, and Nine Mile Point units upstate, and at additional plants in Connecticut, New Jersey, and New Hampshire.

[sefarkas]

An interesting take on fulfilling the demand for electricity.

[rommy]

Great article!

As a person who holds environmental causes close to his heart, I've always supported increased use of nuclear power.

Just like the article says, it's cleaner, more efficient, and in the long run cheaper then coal.

[Lazamataz]

Actually, I directly burn coal and uranium.

I toss it in the fireplace.

[Swiss]

I have a question, while they talk about only ounces of uranium to generate electricity, how many tons of ore does it take to create the processed uranium?

[sefarkas]

how many tons of ore does it take to create the processed uranium

In rough numbers, 3-4% of the UO2 in the core is actually fissioned. The core houses some 82 metric tons of uranium oxide (UO2).

An ore grade of 1% U3O8 is equivalent to 0.848% U, and 1 million lbs U3O8 are equivalent to 385 metric tonnes of U. For the enrichment process, uranium is needed in the form of uranium hexafluoride (UF6). This is obtained from the uranium ore concentrate by refining and conversion. 1 t of UF6 is equivalent to 0.676 t U. At ambient temperature, UF6 is a crystalline solid, but at a temperature of 56.4°C, it sublimates (becomes a gas). For use in pressurized water reactors (PWR), uranium is enriched to between 3.6% and 4.1%, and for use in boiling water reactors (BWR), between 3.0% and 3.2% weight-percent uranium-235. Typical concentrations of U-235 in depleted uranium (the "tails assay") are 0.2 to 0.3 weight-percent; that is around 30 - 40% of its concentration in natural uranium. The enriched uranium hexafluoride is converted to the oxide form of UO2. In this form, the uranium is used for the production of nuclear fuel for light water reactors. 1 t of UO2 is equivalent to 0.8815 t U.

See
http://www.antenna.nl/wise/uranium/rup.html
as well as
http://www.cameco.com/uranium_101/uranium_science/nuclear_fuel/index.php
and
http://www.geocities.com/darundo_100/nuclear_energy.htm

[sefarkas]

how many tons of ore does it take to create the processed uranium

In rough numbers, 3-4% of the UO2 in the core is actually fissioned. The core houses some 82 metric tons of uranium oxide (UO2).

An ore grade of 1% U3O8 is equivalent to 0.848% U, and 1 million lbs U3O8 are equivalent to 385 metric tonnes of U. For the enrichment process, uranium is needed in the form of uranium hexafluoride (UF6). This is obtained from the uranium ore concentrate by refining and conversion. 1 t of UF6 is equivalent to 0.676 t U. At ambient temperature, UF6 is a crystalline solid, but at a temperature of 56.4°C, it sublimates (becomes a gas). For use in pressurized water reactors (PWR), uranium is enriched to between 3.6% and 4.1%, and for use in boiling water reactors (BWR), between 3.0% and 3.2% weight-percent uranium-235. Typical concentrations of U-235 in depleted uranium (the "tails assay") are 0.2 to 0.3 weight-percent; that is around 30 - 40% of its concentration in natural uranium. The enriched uranium hexafluoride is converted to the oxide form of UO2. In this form, the uranium is used for the production of nuclear fuel for light water reactors. 1 t of UO2 is equivalent to 0.8815 t U.

See
http://www.antenna.nl/wise/uranium/rup.html
as well as
http://www.cameco.com/uranium_101/uranium_science/nuclear_fuel/index.php
and
http://www.geocities.com/darundo_100/nuclear_energy.htm