Uranium Mining and Milling

Uranium ore is extracted, purified and milled by miners to become uranium oxide (U₃O₈) or 'Yellowcake.'

Refining & Conversion

U₃O₈ is chemically converted into uranium hexafluoride (UF₆), for light water reactors and uranium dioxide (U0₂) for heavy water reactors.

Enrichment

UF⁶ is fed into gas centrifuges to separate the lighter U²³⁵ isotope. U²³⁵ is typically enriched to up to 5%.

Fuel Fabrication

The enriched UF₆ is converted back to uranium dioxide (UO₂) and is then pressed and sintered into pellets before being put into fuel rods.

Electricity Generation

The fuel rods are loaded into nuclear reactors and used to generate steam. This drives turbines which power electricity generators.

Reprocessing and Recycling

Recovered uranium from reprocessing can be converted to UF₆ and then re-enriched into new fuel.