Module 102 - The Nuclear Fuel Cycle - doe-hdbk-1113-98_reaffirm_2005

DOE-HDBK-1113-98

Module 102 The Nuclear Fuel Cycle

Lesson Plan

Instructor's Notes

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II. MODULE 102 - The Nuclear Fuel Cycle

A. Objectives

EO2

Identify the sources and uses of uranium.

EO3

Identify the various processes involved in the

nuclear fuel cycle.

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Importance of Uranium

Uranium is a naturally occurring element used primarily

for producing energy with nuclear reactors and

developing nuclear weapons. It is also used for armor

plating (depleted uranium), radiation shielding, and

counterweights.

Historically, uranium was used for hundreds of years to

color glass and as a glaze for tile and pottery. Bright

orange "Fiesta-ware" dinner plates were prized for their

color without any awareness of their radioactivity. These

plates are no longer produced, but are now collectors'

items among those in the nuclear industry and others.

Typically, the dose rate is about 5 mrem/hr (0.05 mSv/hr)

on contact with these plates.

The original discovery of radioactivity involved uranium.

In 1896, Henri Becquerel discovered that uranium would

cause photographic film to become fogged because of

radioactive emissions. Some of these emissions were even

more penetrating that the "X rays" that Wilhelm Roentgen

had discovered a year earlier.