tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7597656451205429515.post1526274529252880976..comments2024-02-16T17:52:44.944-06:00Comments on The Nuclear Green Revolution: The world needs greatly increased access to power, not a reductionCharles Bartonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01125297013064527425noreply@blogger.comBlogger6125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7597656451205429515.post-45136989729027264912009-06-02T15:27:34.091-05:002009-06-02T15:27:34.091-05:00I think from memory that Dave's power plant experi...I think from memory that Dave's power plant experience is actually with natgas, rather than nukes.Finrodhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02447747229391757964noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7597656451205429515.post-13507438990887220672009-06-01T07:17:03.775-05:002009-06-01T07:17:03.775-05:00Yes, obviously. More precisely, as you certainly j...Yes, obviously. More precisely, as you certainly just know,uranium production figures are given in *heavy metal* weight of the yellow coke (U/U3O8 ratio is about 85%).<br />Of course, besides Candus, all reactors use low enriched uranium, so the real uranium "used" inside the reactor depends on many factors, for example tecnology choiced, BUP, or uranium enrichment tails (the lower it is, the higher the Swu, separative work units, you have to spend, but the better use of natural uranium you do); for example, to produce 1 kg of LEU at given 5 % (with 0,2 enrichment in tails, 0,71% "enrichment" of pure uranium) you have to consume (5-0,2)/(0,71-0,2) = 9,4 kg of natural uranium, even if only one kg goes into the reactor<br /><br />Of course as nuclear operator, you well know all these facts so much better than me!Alex Pnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7597656451205429515.post-10194652430180764252009-05-31T12:31:54.203-05:002009-05-31T12:31:54.203-05:00Ah...ok...the problem is that I "translate" fuel i...Ah...ok...the problem is that I "translate" fuel in to waste out so it seemed high. But I understand now...and I completely forgot about the need for enrichment for most plants out there.<br /><br />So in uranium production figures, always given in yellow-cake weight...this mine can produce 220 tons of fuel per year, we are talking un-enriched tonnage then?<br /><br />davidDWhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03070034894266417461noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7597656451205429515.post-28194127572900795002009-05-31T05:25:46.817-05:002009-05-31T05:25:46.817-05:00It seems right. It takes about 35 tonn/year of enr...It seems right. It takes about 35 tonn/year of enriched uranium (~ 3%) per GWe installed, with today LWR burn-up (~ 33 MWd per kg of LEU), that means 200-230 tonns of natural uranium. For newer LWR versions, 5% of enrichment, 55 MWd/kg,it takes about 25 tonn/year of LEU per GWe, the natural uranium need is quite the sameAlex P.noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7597656451205429515.post-7678425854856392622009-05-30T15:40:44.264-05:002009-05-30T15:40:44.264-05:00I took the figures from the 'Aim High' presentatio...I took the figures from the 'Aim High' presentation, one of the latter slides:<br />http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VgKfS74hVvQ<br />It gives the figures as 35 tonnes of enriched uranium for a 1GW reactor, and 215 tonnes of unenriched.<br />Perhaps you were thinking of the enriched figure?<br />Rgds,<br />DaveMartDaveMarthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15874375831375117259noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7597656451205429515.post-18096427382542570502009-05-30T12:02:44.515-05:002009-05-30T12:02:44.515-05:00I thought a conventional reactor uses about 25 ton...I thought a conventional reactor uses about 25 tons of fuel?<br /><br />DavidDWhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03070034894266417461noreply@blogger.com