ABSTRACT
The sixty-nine nuclear power plants operating are primarily light water reactors (LWR), generate 12 percent of United States' electricity, and represent in-place capacity of about 50,600 MW. LWR technology is based on using a once-through fuel cycle, relegating spent fuel reprocessing with recovery of unused uranium to a politically uncertain future. A decision to proceed with reprocessing spent reactor fuel can reduce uranium needs significantly by recycling recovered uranium and plutonium. Further, enrichment plant performance or efficiency relates directly to raw ore throughput capacity in the plant and the tails assay. United States enrichment facilities use gaseous diffusion technology. Newer facilities will include gas centrifuges; these systems were proven earlier in Europe, and operate at an estimated 10 percent of the energy costs of gaseous diffusion. Development of a thorium technology base could have a larger long-term effect on uranium requirements.
