The Front End of the Nuclear Fuel Cycle: Current Issues

Summary

Nuclear power contributes roughly 20% of the electrical generation in the United States. Uranium is the fundamental element in fuel used for nuclear power production. The nuclear fuel cycle is the cradle-to-grave life cycle from extracting uranium ore from the earth through power production in a nuclear reactor to permanent disposal of the resulting spent nuclear fuel.

The front end of the nuclear fuel cycle considers the portion of the nuclear fuel cycle leading up to electrical power production in a nuclear reactor. The front end of the nuclear fuel cycle has four stages: mining and milling, conversion, enrichment, and fabrication. Mining and milling is the process of removing uranium ore from the earth and physically and chemically processing the ore to develop “yellowcake” uranium concentrate. Uranium conversion produces uranium hexafluoride, a gaseous form of uranium, from uranium concentrate. Uranium enrichment physically separates and concentrates the fissile isotope U-235. The enriched uranium used in nuclear power reactors is approximately 3%-5% U-235, while weapons-grade enriched uranium is greater than 90% U-235. Nuclear fuel fabrication involves manufacturing enriched uranium fuel rods and assemblies highly specific to a nuclear power reactor.

Historically, the Atomic Energy Commission (AEC), a predecessor federal agency to the Department of Energy (DOE) and the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC), promoted uranium production through federal procurement contracts between 1947 and 1971. Since the late 1980s, U.S. nuclear utilities and reactor operators have purchased increasingly more foreign-origin uranium for reactor fuel than domestically produced uranium. In 1987, about half of uranium used in domestic nuclear reactors was foreign origin. By 2018, however, 93% of uranium used in U.S. nuclear reactors was foreign origin. No uranium conversion facilities currently operate in the United States. There is one operational U.S. commercial uranium enrichment facility that has the capacity to enrich approximately one-third of the country’s annual reactor requirements. In additional to newly mined uranium, U.S. nuclear power reactors also rely on secondary sources of uranium materials. These sources include federal and commercial stockpiles, re-enrichment of depleted uranium, excess feed from underfeeding during commercial enrichment, and downblending of higher enriched uranium.

The global uranium market operates with multiple industries exchanging uranium products and services through separate, nondirect, and interrelated markets. Producers, suppliers, and utilities buy, sell, store, and transfer uranium materials. Nuclear utilities and reactor operators diversify fuel sources among primary and secondary supply and may acquire uranium from multiple domestic and foreign suppliers and servicers. For example, a nuclear power utility in the United States may purchase uranium concentrate that has been mined and milled in Australia, converted in France, enriched in Germany, and fabricated into fuel in the United States.

On January 16, 2018, two domestic uranium producers—representatives from the uranium mining/milling industry—petitioned the U.S. Department of Commerce to conduct a Section 232 investigation pursuant to the Trade Expansion Act of 1962 (19 U.S.C. §1862) to examine whether U.S. uranium imports pose a threat to national security. The President has until July 13, 2019, to decide if he concurs with the findings and determine what import actions to levy, if any.

The Section 232 uranium investigation into uranium imports has started a debate among domestic uranium producers and nuclear utilities and organizations operating nuclear fuel facilities. Uranium producers assert that low production of domestically sourced uranium concentrate poses a national security risk as fuel supplies are dependent on imported material. Nuclear utilities and reactor operators assert that increased fuel costs from trade restrictions would increase their financial burdens, leading to the premature shutdown of economically marginal nuclear power plants. Trade actions may have direct and indirect local, regional, and national economic impacts. Congress may examine the current status of domestic uranium supply and the long-term viability of these industries.