Uranium for Nuclear Power: Resources, Mining and Transformation to Fuel discusses the nuclear industry and its dependence on a steady supply of competitively priced uranium as a key factor in its long-term sustainability. A better understanding of uranium ore geology and advances in exploration and mining methods will facilitate the discovery and exploitation of new uranium deposits. The practice of efficient, safe, environmentally-benign exploration, mining and milling technologies, and effective site decommissioning and remediation are also fundamental to the public image of nuclear power. This book provides a comprehensive review of developments in these areas. - Provides researchers in academia and industry with an authoritative overview of the front end of the nuclear fuel cycle - Presents a comprehensive and systematic coverage of geology, mining, and conversion to fuel, alternative fuel sources, and the environmental and social aspects - Written by leading experts in the field of nuclear power, uranium mining, milling, and geological exploration who highlight the best practices needed to ensure environmental safety

Originally published in 1983, this book presents both the technical and political information necessary to evaluate the emerging threat to world security posed by recent advances in uranium enrichment technology. Uranium enrichment has played a relatively quiet but important role in the history of efforts by a number of nations to acquire nuclear weapons and by a number of others to prevent the proliferation of nuclear weapons. For many years the uranium enrichment industry was dominated by a single method, gaseous diffusion, which was technically complex, extremely capital-intensive, and highly inefficient in its use of energy. As long as this remained true, only the richest and most technically advanced nations could afford to pursue the enrichment route to weapon acquisition. But during the 1970s this situation changed dramatically. Several new and far more accessible enrichment techniques were developed, stimulated largely by the anticipation of a rapidly growing demand for enrichment services by the world-wide nuclear power industry. This proliferation of new techniques, coupled with the subsequent contraction of the commercial market for enriched uranium, has created a situation in which uranium enrichment technology might well become the most important contributor to further nuclear weapon proliferation. Some of the issues addressed in this book are: A technical analysis of the most important enrichment techniques in a form that is relevant to analysis of proliferation risks; A detailed projection of the world demand for uranium enrichment services; A summary and critique of present institutional non-proliferation arrangements in the world enrichment industry, and An identification of the states most likely to pursue the enrichment route to acquisition of nuclear weapons.

This book is the product of a congressionally mandated study to examine the feasibility of eliminating the use of highly enriched uranium (HEU2) in reactor fuel, reactor targets, and medical isotope production facilities. The book focuses primarily on the use of HEU for the production of the medical isotope molybdenum-99 (Mo-99), whose decay product, technetium-99m3 (Tc-99m), is used in the majority of medical diagnostic imaging procedures in the United States, and secondarily on the use of HEU for research and test reactor fuel. The supply of Mo-99 in the U.S. is likely to be unreliable until newer production sources come online. The reliability of the current supply system is an important medical isotope concern; this book concludes that achieving a cost difference of less than 10 percent in facilities that will need to convert from HEU- to LEU-based Mo-99 production is much less important than is reliability of supply.

Transforming the energy system is at the core of the dedicated sustainable development goal on energy within the new United Nations development agenda. This publication explores the possible contribution of nuclear energy to addressing the issues of sustainable development through a large selection of indicators. It reviews the characteristics of nuclear power in comparison with alternative sources of electricity supply, according to economic, social and environmental pillars of sustainability. The findings summarized in this publication will help the reader to consider, or reconsider, the contribution that can be made by the development and operation of nuclear power plants in contributing to more sustainable energy systems.

Nuclear Power provides a concise, up-to-date, accessible guide to the most controversial form of power generation. The author includes a comprehensive description of the various methods for generating nuclear power and evaluates the political, strategic, environmental, economic, and emotional factors involved in each method. The analysis of real-life, tragic examples, such as the accidents in Chernobyl and Fukushima help the reader understand the associated risks and dangers of this method of power generation and the radioactive waste it creates. This is a valuable and insightful read for those involved in nuclear power, including power plant designers and engineers, as well as those involved in the protection of society and the environment. - Discusses various nuclear reactor designs and methods for generating this type of power - Evaluates the political, strategic, environmental, economic, and emotional factors involved in each technology - Explores the environmental and economic effects of nuclear power generation through various real-life tragedies, such as the accidents in Chernobyl and Fukushima

In the wake of the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant accident, questions are being raised about the future of the uranium market, including as regards the number of reactors expected to be built in the coming years, the amount of uranium required to meet forward demand, the adequacy of identified uranium resources to meet that demand and the ability of the sector to meet reactor requirements in a challenging investment climate. This 24th edition of the "Red Book", a recognised world reference on uranium jointly prepared by the OECD Nuclear Energy Agency and the International Atomic Energy Agency, provides analyses and information from 42 producing and consuming countries in order to address these and other questions. It offers a comprehensive review of world uranium supply and demand as well as data on global uranium exploration, resources, production and reactor-related requirements. It also provides substantive new information on established uranium production centres around the world and in countries developing production centres for the first time. Projections of nuclear generating capacity and reactor-related requirements through 2035, incorporating policy changes following the Fukushima accident, are also featured, along with an analysis of long-term uranium supply and demand issues