Recently, President Biden signed the Prohibiting Russian Uranium Imports Act. While there are waivers that are possible, this bill will significantly reduce if not curtail the import of Russian uranium. This is a necessary response to current events in Ukraine.
However, without further action we could have a uranium shortfall. This will only be exacerbated by our growing demand for electricity to recharge electric vehicles, power computers and phones, and deliver heating and cooling. The decarbonization of industry, artificial intelligence, and data centers will add to this demand.
If you happen to find yourself in a uranium deficit, it might be worthwhile to stop throwing uranium away. This is exactly what we are doing today in a once-through nuclear fuel cycle. Recycling is technically feasible, and it should be politically feasible if one mixes recycled nuclear fuel with things that make the fuel resistant to proliferation. Using the reprocessed fuel immediately helps too.
Yes, recycling is expensive for both renewables and nuclear, but in the long run it will be more expensive if we do not recycle. For nuclear, recycling reduces the waste stockpile, reduces the requisite mining, and reduces the amount and radioactivity of any new waste product. The lower radioactivity means the waste generates less heat, so any permanent waste repository is smaller and easier to isolate.
Besides recycling, there are ways to boost and extend our uranium supply. We can get more uranium from our friends. We can also mine more of our own uranium. Using more robust nuclear fuel allows said fuel to stay longer in a reactor. More of the fuel can then be consumed, which reduces the amount of mining that must occur to satisfy our demand for energy. And we should continue making our current water-cooled reactors more efficient.
In addition, there are alternative sources of uranium to consider. These include the recovery of uranium from mining wastes, from coal fly ash, from phosphate-based fertilizer wastes, and from seawater.
In the longer term we should build the fast reactors that are more efficient and consume nuclear waste as fuel. Similar reactors that rely upon thorium are possible, and there is a lot more thorium than uranium. Fusion is not ready yet, but it may become viable.
Nuclear energy includes the heat generated by a reactor, and in all three cases the heat would benefit manufacturing and recycling.
Given the state of the world today, we must outbuild and outcompute our competitors. Both require more energy than renewables with energy storage can provide, so an inclusive clean energy technology plan is of interest. We do not need Russian uranium for nuclear energy to contribute to such an effort.
Leave a Reply