Nuclear Fuel Cycle and Nuclear Power

	Mining is the extraction of uranium ore from open pits or underground mines
	Milling is the uranium recovery from the crushed and ground-up ore by leaching
	At a conversion facility, uranium is converted into uranium hexafluoride
	The enrichment takes UF6 to produce uranium-235 of higher concentration
	Reactor fuel is ceramic pellets put in rods which are arranged into a fuel assembly ready for insertion into a reactor core
	Fission of U-235 atoms leads to energy release
	Spent fuel is unloaded into a storage for several months to several years in order to radiation levels decrease
	In a reprocessing facility the used fuel is separated into different components to produce fresh fuel and to reduce amount of waste

Nuclear Renaissance

 
Many nations are rethinking nuclear power and making plans for new reactors 
 

Today's uranium production cannot catch up with the demand

Conversion is the next potential bottleneck after uranium

A dramatic change with the expiration of the HEU deal in 2013

The need to decommission nuclear reactors and facilities built in the 1970’s-1980’s