Nuclear power plants do not burn fuel. Instead, they use uranium fuel, consisting of solid ceramic pellets, to produce electricity through a process called fission, simply creating heat to boil water, the steam off of which is piped to a turbine creating electricity. Before the mined yellowcake can be used in a reactor, the uranium must undergo four processing steps to convert it from an ore (yellowcake) to solid ceramic fuel pellets. These processes are: mining and milling, conversion, enrichment and fabrication. A single pellet in the fuel rod is equivalent in produced energy to one ton of coal. A fuel assembly for a boiling water reactor (BWR) is approximately 14.5 feet high and weighs approximately 704 pounds. A single fuel assembly for a pressurized water reactor (PWR) is approximately 13 feet high and weighs approximately 1,450 pounds. The PWR fuel assembly weighs more because it contains 264 fuel tubes, while the BWR fuel assembly contains 63.
Watch NEIs interactive graphic on how nuclear fuel is produced, used and stored.
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