Publication Laka-library:
Energy from Uranium
| Author | J.W.Storm van Leeuwen |
 |
6-01-2-15-44.pdf |
| Date | July 2006 |
| Classification | 6.01.2.15/44 (NP & GREENHOUSE EFFECT - CO2 REDUCTION AND CLIMATE CHANGE) |
| Front | 
|
From the publication:
Energy from Uranium
Jan Willem Storm van Leeuwen, July 2006
In the perspective of rising prices of fossil fuels and climatological concerns, nuclear power
gained renewed interest as a solution to the energy problems. This paper discusses some
unique aspects of nuclear power, which may be important in the considerations of the options
for the future energy supply mix
This paper is based on the study Storm & Smith 2005 [6], comprising a full life cycle assessment
(LCA) and analysis of the energy and mass flows of a light-water reactor (LWR) in the once-through
mode.
Content
1 Burners and breeders
2 Energy costs energy
3 Emission of carbon dioxide and other Green House Gases (GHGs)
Carbon dioxide
Emission of other greenhouse gases
4 Time scale
5 Lifetime costs
Energy debt
Internalising external costs, energy pay-back time
6 Uranium resources
World known recoverable uranium resources
Prospects of future finds
7 Extraction of uranium from ore
Dilution factor
Extraction yield
The energy cliff
The uranium peak
8 Conclusions
Appendix: Breeders
References
Quantities and units
FPY = Full-Power Year
One full-power year FPY, corresponds with one year continuous operation at 100% power output.
This unit avoids discussion about load factors and lifetime of the power plants. In the energy
analysis the lifetime energy production and lifetime energy inputs of the system are analysed.
1 Mg = 1 megagram = 106 gram = 1 metric tonne.
1 Gg = 1 gigagram = 109 gram = 1000 metric tonnes
1 Tg = 1 teragram = 1012 gram = 1 million metric tonnes
1 TJ = 1 terajoule = 1012 joule, corresponds with 2.78x105 kWh
Note
In this document the references are coded by Q-numbers (e.g. Q133). Each reference has a
unique number in this coding system, which is consi