THE NUCLEAR CYCLE
CO2 Emissions from the Nuclear Fuel Cycle
Authors: Mark Diesendorf & Peter Christoff energyscience.org.auOnly reactor operation is CO 2 free; all the other the stages in the nuclear fuel chain use fossil fuels and hence emit CO 2 .
CO 2 Emissions from the nuclear fuel chain will increase substantially as the limited supplies of high-grade uranium ore are used up and as low-grade ore is mined and milled using fossil fuels.
The recent push for a revival of nuclear energy has been based on its claimed reduction of CO 2 emissions where it substitutes for coal-fired power stations. In reality, only reactor operation is CO 2 -free. All other stages of the nuclear fuel chain – mining, milling, fuel fabrication, enrichment, reactor construction, decommissioning and waste management – use fossil fuels and hence emit CO 2 . Also the transport between these parts of the fuel cycle can be very energy intensive as they can be in different countries and require shipping, trucking or rail.
The Nuclear Cycle Made Simple
Since the atomic bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki in 1945, the world has known of the horrors of the nuclear threat. The massive stockpile of nuclear weapons that has risen since - to the point that the planet could be blown up thousands of times over - compounds people’s fear of nuclear devastation, and shows the absurdity and destructiveness that those in power have yielded on our living planet.