After being mined the uranium is transported to a uranium plant where it is ground down to powder. The uranium content is increased by various processes and the result is uranium concentrate in the form of yellow powder.
The uranium concentrate has to be further refined before it can be used as a nuclear fuel. It is therefore converted to uranium hexaflouride. The uranium hexaflouride is heated and enriched which means that it is processed so that the content of fissile uranium-235 increases to the approximately 3% required by nuclear fuel. Natural uranium contains only 0.7% uranium-235.
After enrichment, the uranium hexaflouride is cooled back to solid form and converted to uranium dioxide. The actual nuclear fuel is finally produced from the uranium dioxide in the form of small cylinders known as pellets.
The pellets are stacked in long rods, which are out together to make a fuel element. The fuel elements are used for about five years in a reactor before being replaced. A nuclear reactor contains about 15 million pellets.
- Nuclear industry is the only industry requiring worst case scenario. Why not use it for chemical transports aswell?
- A nuclear plant cannot explode like a atomic bomb since it does not reach a critical mass.
- Plutonium is toxic but not as toxic as the nuclear waste.
- In order to build a Plutonium bomb you need to enrich it out of the nuclear waste.
- In order to build a Uranium bomb you need enriched uranium-235 (.7% out of natural uranium).
- The information found on this page is not more deadly then the information found on how to use a gun.
References:
www.youtube.com/watch?v=5BHdsjo-NR4
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Uranium
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nuclear_fuel_cycle
IRL visit at:
Ringhals powerplant
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