THE BASICS OF NUCLEAR ENERGY —

AN OVERVIEW

By: Dana S. Ulmer-Scholle

Nuclear power uses the energy created by controlled nuclear reactions to produce
electricity.

Fission

Nuclear Fission
Source: Atomicarchive.com at: http://www.atomicarchive.com/Fission/Fission1.shtml

The most commonly used nuclear reaction for power generation is nuclear fission.
Nuclear fission is the splitting of an atom's nucleus into parts (lighter nuclei that are
different from the parent and neutrons) by capturing a neutron. Nuclear fission
produces heat (also called an exothermic reaction), because if you add all the masses
together of the products of reaction you do not get the starting mass. That loss of mass
is the heat and electromagnetic radiation produced during fission, and it produces
large amounts of energy that can be utilized for power. Fission produces neutrons
which can then be captured by other atoms to continue the reaction (chain reaction)
with more neutrons being produce at each step. When a reaction reaches critical
mass, the reaction becomes self sustaining. If too many neutrons are generated, the
reaction can get out of control and an explosion can occur. To prevent this from
occurring, control rods that absorb the extra neutrons are interspersed with the fuel
rods. Uranium-235 is the most commonly used fuel for fission. Nuclear fission can
produce 200 MeV of energy.
 An
Example of a Chain Reaction
Source: Atomicarchive.com at: http://www.atomicarchive.com/Fission/Fission1.shtml

Fusion

Nuclear Fusion
Source: Atomicarchive.com at: http://www.atomicarchive.com/Fusion/Fusion1.shtml

Nuclear fusion is another method to produce nuclear energy. Two light elements, like
tritium and deuterium, are forced to fuse and form helium and a neutron. This is the
same reaction that fuels the sun and produces the light and heat. Unlike fission, fusion
produces less energy (~18 MeV), but the components are more abundant and cheaper
than uranium.

Radioactive Decay
Radioactive Decay occurs when an unstable nucleus losses a particle and
electromagnetic radiation. This decay produces a daughter atom that may also be
unstable and occurs at an average rate, which is called the half-life (the amount of
time it takes for one half of the parent material decay to the daughter). While
radioactive decay has been utilized for deep-space probes (using plutonium-238
pellets), it does not create the amount of energy that fission or fusion does and
therefore it has limited potential for large power-producing facilities.

Radioactive Decay
Source: NRC at http://www.nrc.gov/reading-rm/basic-ref/glossary/full-text.html

URANIUM ENRICHMENT
We are a research and service division of:
 By: Dana S. Ulmer-Scholle

Yellowcake
Uranium
Source: Photo courtesy of Cogema, Inc

When the uranium leaves the ISL facility or a uranium mill, it is in the form of uranium
oxide (U3O8) or what is commonly called yellowcake. This uranium oxide is not the
form of uranium that is used by nuclear reactors (UO 2), therefore it has to be refined
or enriched for civilian use.

The uranium for power plants is processed to enrich U-235 (about U Isotopes) with
respect to the other isotopes of uranium. For reactor grade this is approximately 3-5%
U-235. Weapons grade uranium has greater than 90% U-235, is the metallic form of
uranium and is referred to as highly enriched uranium (HEU).

The enrichment process involves:

 converting the uranium oxide (solid) to uranium hexafluoride (UF6), a gas,

 the UF6 is then enriched with respect U-235 and converted to UO2, and
 this process creates depleted uranium (DU) which has more U-238 and
enriched uranium which has more U-235 than natural uranium.

How is uranium enriched?

To separate the isotopes of uranium, you have to expend a lot of energy to create
nuclear fuel. Because the two isotopes are almost the same size and weight, those
slight differences have to be exploited in the separation process using similar
techniques over and over, finally getting to the purest form. The two common
production methods employ the use of diffusion or centrifuge methods. Other
techniques exist (such as laser and aerodynamic processes), but they are still
experimental.

Diffusion Methods
Gaseous diffusion forces uranium hexafluoride gas through a series of semi-
permeable membranes. Each pass through a membrane separates the two isotopes
from each other; it takes over a thousand passes to make commercial nuclear fuel (3-
5% U-235). The lighter, smaller U-235 moves through the membrane easier than the
larger heavier U-238. After the UF6 is enriched by the specified amount, then it
condensed into a liquid and then solidified.

Source: NRC (Nuclear Regulatory Commission)

Gaseous diffusion produces approximately 1/3 of the reactor fuel, but this is old
technology (it requires huge energy expenditures and needs lots of space) that is
being replaced by newer, more cost effective technologies.
Centrifuge Methods
Gas Centrifuge
Source: European Nuclear Society

Gas centrifuges uses centrifugal force (rapidly

rotating cylinders) to separate the two
isotopes from the UF6 gas. The heavier U-
238 atom moves up and outward, and the
lighter U-235 atom moves toward the center
of the tube. Some companies apply a
temperature profile across the centrifuges to
help the process. Banks of centrifuges are
used to enrich the uranium. Uranium
Enrichment

Source: Urenco
Banks of Gas
Centrifuges
from Piketon,
OH Plant

: Wikimedia Commons

A new and improved type of centrifuge is gaining market use called a Zippe Centrifuge.
The difference in the Zippe Centrifuge is that the U-235 that moves toward the center
wall moves up and out and U-238 moves out and downward; therefore, they exit at
opposite ends and produces a counter-current.
Centrifuges produce over 50% of the enriched uranium today, and plants are still be
constructed (e.g. the LES plant in Eunice, NM). Centrifuges are also much more
energy efficient than gaseous diffusion plants. Source: DOE Zippe Centrifuge
Source
Comanche Peak Power Plant, Glen Rose, TX

Source: P. A. Scholle & D. S. Ulmer-Scholle, 1997, SEPM Photo CD-14,

Environmental Sciences 5, SEPM, Tulsa, OK.

Nuclear Fuel Pellets

Source: P. A. Scholle & D. S. Ulmer-Scholle, 1997, SEPM Photo CD-14,
Environmental Sciences 5, SEPM, Tulsa, OK.

Currently, approximately 17% of electricity worldwide is produced by nuclear power

plants, but in some countries, like France, over 75% of their electricity is produced by
nuclear power (How Stuff Works). The United States, on the other hand, only produces
about 15% of the electricity from nuclear power.
Nuclear power plants use pellets to fuel the plants. A pellet contains approximately 3%
U-235 that is encased in a ceramic matrix.

Refueling the Reactor Core

Source: P. A. Scholle & D. S. Ulmer-Scholle, 1997, SEPM Photo CD-14,
Environmental Sciences 5, SEPM, Tulsa, OK.

The pellets are aligned in linear arrays (fuel rods) that are interspersed with moveable
control rods. The control rods act to dampen (or to stop) the the nuclear reactions so
that the nuclear reactions do not get out of control or to service the reactor (ie. fuel rod
change outs). The whole assembly (reactor core) is submerged in water to help keep
the core cool. A power plant similar to Comanche Peak (photo above), might have as
many as 13 million pellets in the reactor at a time, and they stay there for 3 to 4 years.
To optimize power production, between one third and a quarter of the fuel rods are
changed out every 12 to 18 months.
Schematic of Reactor Vessel
Source: P. A. Scholle & D. S. Ulmer-Scholle, 1997, SEPM Photo CD-14,
Environmental Sciences 5, SEPM, Tulsa, OK.

The reactor vessel is housed first in a radiation shield liner and then in a containment
structure. This double walled design is to make certain that communities are safe from
radiation leaks (unlike old Soviet style reactors). Containment structures (the large
domes in the photo from Comanche Peak) are designed to withstand the impact of a
large passenger planes and other possible major accidents/attacks.

Types of Reactors
Nuclear fission produces heat, and this heat is used to heat water and make steam.
The steam powers turbines which turn generators. The generators produce electricity.
Nuclear power generates electricity much like coal- or diesel-powered plants. What is
different from the other two, is that nuclear doesn't produce greenhouse gases like the
burning of fossil fuels. It does produce spent nuclear fuel that is radioactive, and this
has disposal problems. Go to the page, Why Nuclear? for a discussion of the pros and
cons of nuclear energy.

The two main types of reactors in use today are the pressurized (PWR) and boiling
water (BWR) reactors. In the pressurized water reactor the water is heated by the
nuclear reactions, but because the water is pressurized, it doesn't boil. The water in
the reactor heats the water in the steam generator side, but it is on a different loop so
they do not mix. In the boiling water reactor, the water comes to a boil due to the heat
produced by nuclear fission. The water from the reactor powers the turbine. In both
systems, the water is reused.

Pressurized Water Reactor (PWR)

Source: NRC; To see an animated version, go to http://www.nrc.gov/reading-
rm/basic-ref/students/animated-pwr.html

Boiling Water Reactor (BWR)

Source: NRC; To see an animated version, go to http://www.nrc.gov/reading-
rm/basic-ref/students/animated-bwr.html

The Future of Nuclear Energy

Source: DOE

The future of nuclear energy depends on safe and efficient reactor designs. In the
past, the United States took the approach of having a few reactor types, but every
plant was basically unique. This means that personnel can not easily switch facilities
without relearning the plant's design. France, on the other hand, started out with a
basic plant design. While they have improve the design with newer technologies, it still
means that there is a much shorter learning curve to get personnel familiar with a new
plant.

In the U.S., the next major change in plant design will be Generation IV reactors:
Thermal Reactors

Source: DOE

There are the three types of very high temperature reactors (thermal) of the six
preliminary designs that have been approved. Generally, they have graphite cores,
are helium-cooled and can reach temperatures of over 1000°C. Because of the high
temperatures, these reactors are also capable of producing hydrogen in addition to
electricity. Also they are safer because the are built to withstand very high
temperatures making accidents less likely as well as the gas being less dangerous
than water-cooled plants (where the water is able to absorb neutrons).

TRISO Fuel Pellet

Source: http://upload.wikimedia.org
The Pebble bed VHTR uses TRISO fuel pellets for passive safety. The fuel is incased
into "pebbles" of tennis-ball sized graphite spheres (see photo below) which control
the nuclear reactions making this a safer design.

Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:Scwr.gif

The Super Critical Water Reactor uses supercritical water, not a gas such as helium,
as the moderating medium. Similar in design to the older plants, but capable of
handling high pressures and producing electricity cheaper and more efficiently.
Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:Msr.gif

The Molten Salt Reactor uses molten salt as the main coolant. Because of the molten
salt, they are considered to be safer than current reactors. They are also smaller
systems, so they are faster to build and get on line. There is also no high pressured
steam associated with these reactors, but there is very little experience in actual large-
scale reactors (numerous experimental models do work well).
Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gas_cooled_fast_reactor
Fast Reactors
Fast Reactors depend on fast neutrons to maintain the nuclear reactions and fuel that
has much higher concentrations of fissile material than the thermal reactors. Because
they produce more neutrons than can be used, those neutrons can be used to change
daughter materials to less harmful isotopes or produce extra fuel (breeder reactors).
There are three types of GenIV fast reactors.

Gas-Cooled Fast Reactors (GCFR) have a closed fuel cycle and are helium cooled.
Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sodium-cooled_fast_reactor

The Sodium-Cooled Fast Reactor combines technologies of a liquid metal fast

breeder reactor with other fast breeder reactor technologies. It creates plutonium
which can then be used as fuel, therefore the wastes never have to leave the site. It
also passively safe, if the reaction starts to get out of control, it shuts itself down.

Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lead_cooled_fast_reactor
Lead-Cooled Fast Reactors run in series. Temperatures get high enough to be able
to produce hydrogen as an additional by product.

THE BASICS OF NUCLEAR ENERGY — WHY NUCLEAR POWER?

 What Is Uranium?
 Uranium Resources in NM
 Uranium Research at the NM Bureau of Geology

Why is uranium mining and nuclear energy suddenly back in the news? There are
several reasons. First and foremost, Global Warming, the rise in earth's temperature
due to trapped greenhouse gases, is seen as not an emerging threat but as something
that is occurring already with a rise in the average global air temperatures
of 1.3±0.3°F in the past 100 years. The societal, environmental and economic threats
of global warming to our planet are potentially enormous. Possible side effects of
global warming are increased storm intensities, increasing the size of deserts,
displacement of populations due to sea-level rise and desertification, conflict, increase
flooding, increase disease outbreaks, changing agricultural patterns and others.
Nuclear power generation doesn't produce greenhouse gases, so one source could
be decreased.

Another reason that nuclear energy has become much more attractive is that it
decreases our dependence on fossil fuels. The burning of fossil fuels (oil, gas and
coal) emit greenhouse gases, but there is also a limited supply and we are quickly
using up our reserves. Since nuclear fuel contains much more energy than a similar
mass of hydrocarbons or coal, nuclear energy is an attractive alternative to carbon-
based fuels. With emerging economies in India, China, and Russia, the need for more
energy is straining the ability to keep up the supply for every increasing demand.

As with any solution, there are numerous positives and negatives to the issue. In
particular, legacy mining issues and nuclear disasters like Chernobyl have left a public
perception that nuclear energy can never be safe. Hopefully, by looking at variety of
websites and literature, you can become well informed on the issues of uranium mining
and nuclear energy and decide for yourself if nuclear should become part of our energy
portfolio.

Here are just a few of the advantages and disadvantages with the nuclear fuel cycle:

Advantages

 Creates little or no greenhouse gases

 Doesn't use a valuable resource - hydrocarbons
 Less other pollution (for example, fly ash)
 More efficient energy source (for the same volume of fuel, it produces far more
energy than carbon-based fuels)
 Reliable source of energy; reactors, with a few exceptions, spend little down
time
 Cost effective when a standardized reactor design is used
 Produces little waste
 New reactor designs make it a renewable resource: breeder reactors
 Reactor technology is now well developed

Disadvantages

 Safety issues and the public perceptions of nuclear energy

 Possibility of accidents: people remember Chernobyl and Three Mile Island
 Too many reactor designs (for example in the US) make training safety
personnel and plant employees more difficult and emergency response
problematic
 Spent fuel storage and disposal
 The amount of time it takes to get a nuclear power plant from planning to
producing electricity
 High price of construction
 Mining & refining uranium can create environmental and health problems
including degrading aquifers; huge tailing and mine waste issues exposed to
the surface; mine, transportation and mill workers exposure to radon and
uranium, and other mining related issues
 Transportation safety of nuclear wastes
 Life span of current reactors (~60 years)
 General safety issue