An Overview of
the Nuclear Fuel Cycle
and Radioactive Materials
Industry
Chuck Cain
U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, Region IV
Arlington, Texas
Implementing Legislation
 Atomic
Energy Act of 1954
 established
the Atomic Energy
Commission (AEC)
 Energy
Reorganization Act of 1974
 separated
the peaceful uses regulatory
function from the weapons function
established the NRC
 weapons function eventually included in
Department of Energy (DOE)

Energy Policy Act of 2005
 Authorizes
NRC to regulate naturally
occurring material and acceleratorproduced material
Agreement States
 These
are States that have agreements
with NRC to regulate radioactive
materials within their borders (except
reactors)
 All States in NRC Region IV are
Agreement States except Montana,
Wyoming, South Dakota, Idaho, Alaska,
and Hawaii
Agreement State Map
Since 9/11…
 …particular
attention is paid to security
and not only safety (user qualification
and equipment)
Uranium Mining and Milling

Mining by conventional methods or by In-situ
leaching

Ore is < 1% uranium

Mill extracts uranium from ore; rest is tailings

Mill product is uranium oxide (known as
yellowcake) and is shipped in 55-gallon
drums
The Sweetwater
Mine & Mill
(Wyoming)
Atlas Minerals
on Colorado River
near Moab, UT
Typical in situ Leach Well Field
TYPIC AL SOLU TIO N
FLOW PATTERN S
LE GEN D
IN JE C T IO N W E L L
P R O D U C T IO N W E L L
E X P E C T E D F LO W P A T TE R N
0
60 '
12 0'
18 0'
24 0'
Yellowcake belt dryer
Yellowcake Product
Yellowcake is packaged into 55-gallon drums and prepared for
shipment.
Facts About Yellowcake
 Can
be held in hands without harm.
 A drum of yellowcake weighs about
1,000 pounds.
 Natural uranium contains mostly
uranium-238 (99.3%).
 We want the U-235 which is only 0.7%
of natural uranium.
Enriched Uranium
 The
next challenge is to enrich the
uranium
(increase the proportion of U-235)
 Enrichment
plants usually work by
gaseous diffusion; therefore, the
uranium must be converted to a gas.
Conversion Plants Produce
UF6
 Yellowcake
can be converted to
uranium hexafluoride which has a triple
point of 147° F
 Honeywell, Metropolis, IL
 Sequoyah Fuels, Gore, OK (closed)
Enrichment Plants
 Since
an atom of U-238 is larger than
an atom of U-235, the atoms can be
filtered at a gaseous diffusion
enrichment plant.
 Uranium must be enriched to ~10% to
make nuclear fuel for a reactor.
Oak Ridge
Paducah Gaseous Diffusion Plant
UF6 is stored in cylinders. This one is rated at 14 tons.
Depleted Uranium
 Depleted
uranium is a waste product of
the enrichment process.
 Depleted uranium is “depleted” in U-235
(less than 0.7% U-235).
 DU can be used for purposes where a
heavy mass is needed, such as military
projectiles.
New Technologies
 Gas
centrifuge
 Louisiana
Energy Services
 Areva
 Laser
separation
Fuel Fabrication
 The
enriched UF6 is converted to a
powdered chemical form and made into
fuel pellets.
Spent Fuel
Eventually fuel elements become “poisoned”
during the fission process and need to be
replaced.
 This is considered “high-level” waste.
 There is still much good U-235 left in spent
nuclear fuel.
 The “poisons” (byproduct material) produced
during the fission process are high-energy
gamma emitters.

Spent fuel
Spent fuel stored in a
fuel pool
What’s next for spent fuel?
 Several
 store
options
at reactor site in pool
 store at site in Independent Spent Fuel
Storage Installation (ISFSI)
 burial at geological repository
 reprocess (recycle) to separate the
remaining good uranium from the waste
Arkansas Nuclear One ISFSI
Rancho Seco
ISFSI
Yucca Mountain, Nevada
Also, Low-Level Waste
 Contaminated
or potentially
contaminated items such as protective
clothing, building materials, tools, etc.
 Burial at licensed disposal site such as
EnergySolutions (UT or SC), U.S.
Ecology (WA)
Quantity of Radioactive Material
 Unit
of measurement - curies or
becquerels
Half-Life
 Time
it takes for half of a radioactive
material to decay
 Cobalt-60, 5 years
 Uranium, millions of years
 Some materials decay with a half-life in
minutes or seconds, such as those for
medical use.
Dose to Radiation
 Units
of rems or sieverts
 Radiation worker limit is 5 rems
 Limit for a member of the public is 100
millirems
Uses of Radioactive Materials
Kinds of Licenses
 Specific
 General
(e.g., tritium exit signs)
 Exempt (e.g., smoke alarms)
“Materials” Applications
 Medical
(diagnosis, therapy)
 Academic
 Industrial (radiography, gauges,
petroleum industry)
Industrial Radiography
Radiography “cameras”
100 curies of iridium-192 in “pigtail”
Nuclear Gauges
Petroleum Well Logging
 Radioactive
materials are installed in
tools to characterize producing zones
deep underground
Injury to hands caused by
radiation exposure from
radiography source
Day 14 –
Medical attention first received;
swelling, tenderness, skin
darkening and some blistering
is evident. Estimated exposure
22K – 30K rems.
Day 19 –
Extensive blistering is apparent.
Day 24 –
Blisters are breaking and
dead skin is sloughing off,
exposing raw tissue
underneath.
Day 27 –
Areas of obvious injury
continue to grow larger,
with no evidence of healing.
Increasing pain in damaged
areas.
Day 56 –
Pain has increased until
damaged tissues can no
longer be exposed to air.
Decision to perform skin
grafts.
Day 102 –
Extensive skin grafting
complete. Deep tissue
injury continues.
5 years –
Loss of fingers;
hands sensitive to
heat and cold;
additional amputations
may be required.
Another Radiation Exposure Case
 Warehouse
worker finds radiography
source on floor after radiographer
leaves
 Worker places source pigtail in back
pocket and asks secretary to call
radiography company to come pick it up
100 curies of iridium-192 in “pigtail”
Radioactive Materials Not
Licensed
 Certain
jewelry items
 Fiesta ware
 Coleman lantern mantles
 Smoke detectors
Remaining Questions?