Moving on, let’s get to know HOW NUCLEAR ENERGY IS PRODUCED.

Nuclear power plants use pellets to fuel the plants. A pellet contains approximately 3% U-235
that is encased in a ceramic matrix.

These pellets are thimble-sized ceramic cylinders (approximately 3/8-inch in diameter and 5/8-
inch in length), consisting of uranium, which has been enriched to increase the concentration of
uranium-235 (U-235) to fuel a nuclear reactor.

The pellets are aligned in linear arrays, stacked together into sealed metal tubes called fuel
rods, and are dispersed with moveable control rods.

What are control rods?

A control rod is a device that is used to absorb neutrons so that the nuclear chain reaction
taking place within the reactor core can be slowed down or stopped completely by inserting the
rods further, or accelerated by removing them slightly.

The whole assembly (reactor core) is submerged in water to help keep the core cool.

Why do you need to cool the reactor?

What's left over in the core, the radioactive material, will continue to give off heat for a long time.
Unless you have a mechanism to remove that, the heat can build up and can eventually
damage the radioactive fuel or the reactor.

A nuclear power plant 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.

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

Where can uranium be seen? (read countries)

Amongst these countries, Australia got the most abundant uranium with 28 percent of world
uranium resources.

How is it collected?
There are actually 2 methods in collecting uranium. For the traditional method, they use
conventional mining.

In conventional mining, the ore is crushed in a mill, where water is added to produce a slurry of
fine ore particles and other materials. The slurry is leached with sulfuric acid or an alkaline
solution to dissolve the uranium, leaving the remaining rock and other minerals undissolved.

Over the years, technology has evolved producing a method called in-situ leaching, where the
mining is accomplished without any major ground disturbance. Water is injected with oxygen or
an alkali, acid or other oxidizing solution, and is circulated through the uranium ore, extracting
the uranium. The uranium solution is then pumped to the surface.

The uranium solution from the mines is then separated, filtered and dried to produce uranium
oxide concentrate, often referred to as ‘yellowcake’.