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Uranium and Thorium Resources

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Abstract

Uranium is a widely distributed element which is essential, at least in the near term, to the use of nuclear fission as a source of energy. Uranium is ubiquitous in the earth because of the wide variety of minerals in which it can occur, and because of the variety of geophysical and geochemical processes that have transported it since the primordial formation of the earth from the debris of supernovae. Uranium is approximately as common in the earth’s crust as tin or beryllium, and is a minor constituent in most rocks and in seawater.

This chapter was originally published as part of the Encyclopedia of Sustainability Science and Technology edited by Robert A. Meyers. DOI:10.1007/978-1-4419-0851-3

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Abbreviations

Cross section:

Probability of neutron interaction with a nucleus, expressed in terms of area, in units of barns (b). One barn equals 1.0 × 10−24cm2.

Enrichment:

The fraction of an isotope, usually fissile 235U, in a mass of uranium. Enrichment is commonly quoted as the weight percent of the particular isotope. Natural uranium has an enrichment of 0.711t%, commercial reactor fuel is 3–5% enriched, and depleted uranium is 0.2–0.3% 235U.

Enrichment tails (also depleted uranium):

The uranium remaining after the enrichment of natural uranium into fuel, today about 0.3% 235U, earlier 0.2–0.25% 235U.

Fractionation:

Crystallization from a magma in which the initial crystals are prevented from equilibrating from the parent liquid, resulting in a series of residual liquids of more extreme composition than would have resulted from continuous reaction [1].

Highly enriched uranium (HEU):

Uranium containing more that 20wt% 235U.

Jth :

Joule (i.e., Watt-second) thermal. One British thermal unit (BTU) equals 1,055 Jth.

Log-normal distribution:

Distribution of the form \( f(x) = {e^{{ - {{\left( {\ln x} \right)}^2}}}} \). In the present usage, the tonnage of an element available at concentration c, T(c), is given by \( T(c) = {C_1}{e^{{ - {{(\ln {c_o} - \ln c)}^2}}}} \), where c o is the average crustal abundance and C 1 is a constant.

Low-enriched uranium (LEU):

Uranium containing less than 20wt% 235U.

Mafic:

Composed chiefly of dark ferromagnesian minerals.

MOX:

Mixed oxide fuel, usually consisting of a ceramic mixture of uranium dioxide and plutonium dioxide.

MSWU:

Mega-separative work unit, a million separative work units. A separative work unit is the separative work that must be done to one kilogram of a mixture of isotopes to change its separation potential by one unit. The separation potential, a dimensionless function, is defined by \( \phi ({x_k}) = (2{x_k} - 1)\ln \tfrac{{{x_k}}}{{1 - {x_k}}} \), where x k is the atomic fraction of the isotope, k. See Benedict 1981, p. 667 for a more complete definition [2].

Pegmatite:

An exceptionally coarse-grained igneous rock, with interlocking crystals, often found at the margins of batholiths.

Placer:

A mineral deposit at the surface formed by sedimentary concentration of heavy mineral particles from weathered debris.

Quad:

Quadrillion (i.e., 1015, also written 1E15) British thermal units. One quad = 1.055 × 1018 Jth.

t:

Metric ton, also used in Mt, million metric tons, and Tt, trillion metric tons (teratons).

Unconformity:

A break or gap in the geologic record, such as an interruption in the normal sequence of deposition of sedimentary rocks, or a break between eroded metamorphic rocks and younger sedimentary strata [1].

Yellowcake:

A concentrate of uranium ore, containing 80–90% U3O8. Yellowcake ranges from yellow to black, depending on impurities, processing temperature, and degree of hydration [3]. Although uranium prices are sometimes colloquially cited as “dollars per pound of yellowcake,” the actual prices are $ per lb of U3O8, where all of the uranium is assumed to be present in the yellowcake as that oxide.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Idaho National Laboratory, Idaho Falls, ID, USA

    J. Stephen Herring

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Correspondence to J. Stephen Herring .

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  1. La Paz Court 7320, Reno, 89511, Nevada, USA

    Nicholas Tsoulfanidis

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Herring, J.S. (2013). Uranium and Thorium Resources. In: Tsoulfanidis, N. (eds) Nuclear Energy. Springer, New York, NY. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4614-5716-9_18

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4614-5716-9_18

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