Fuel cycle

The series of steps involved in supplying fuel for nuclear power reactors. The uranium fuel cycle includes the following:

• uranium recovery to extract and concentrate the uranium to produce yellowcake
• conversion of yellowcake into uranium hexafluoride (UF₆)
• enrichment to increase the concentration of uranium in UF₆
• fuel fabrication to convert enriched UF₆ into fuel for nuclear reactors
• use of the fuel in reactors (nuclear power research or naval propulsion) interim storage of spent nuclear fuel
• reprocessing of spent fuel to recover the fissionable material remaining in the spent fuel (currently not done in the United States)
• final disposition of high-level radioactive waste (HLW)
• transportation of the uranium in all forms, including spent fuel

The NRC regulates these processes.

The processing of reactor fuel to separate the unused fissionable material from waste material. Reprocessing extracts uranium and plutonium from spent nuclear fuel so they can be used again as reactor fuel. Commercial reprocessing is not practiced in the United States, although it has been in the past. However, DOE operates reprocessing facilities at Hanford, WA, and Savannah River, SC, for national defense purposes.