Document: NUREG-1555
Document ID: e6522906-ea8a-4279-a417-3ba3eec01014
Document Type: esrp
Title: URANIUM FUEL CYCLE IMPACTS
Source: NUREG-1555
Source URL: https://www.nrc.gov/reading-rm/doc-collections/nuregs/staff/sr1555/initial/
Revision Date: 2007-10
Chapter: 5
Section ID: 5.7
CFR Part: 
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Content:
the enriched uranium, approximately 3% U-235, is then converted to UO2. The UO2 is pelletized, sintered, and inserted into tubes to form fuel assemblies. The fuel assemblies are placed in the reactor to produce power. When the content of the U-235 reaches a point where the nuclear reactor has become inefficient with respect to neutron economy, the fuel assemblies are withdrawn from the reactor. After onsite NUREG-1555 5.7-6 October 1999 storage for sufficient time to allow for short-lived fission product decay and to reduce the heat generation rate, the fuel assemblies will be transferred to a Federal repository for interment. Disposal of spent-fuel elements in a repository constitutes the final step in the no-recycle option. The following assessment of the environmental impacts of the fuel cycle as related to the operation of the proposed project is based on the values given in Table S-3 and the staff’s analysis of the radiological impact from radon releases. NUREG-1437, Generic Environmental Impact Statement for License Renewal of Nuclear Plants (NRC 1996) provides a very detailed analysis of the environmental impacts from the uranium fuel cycle. Although NUREG-1437 is specific to the impacts as they relate to license renewal, most of the information can also be applied to this ESRP review. In addition sections 6.2.3 of NUREG-1437 discusses the sensitivity to recent changes in the fuel cycle on the environmental impacts. For the sake of consistency, the analysis of fuel-cycle impacts has been cast in terms of a model 1000- MWe light-water-cooled reactor (LWR) operating at an annual capacity factor of 80%. In the following review and evaluation of the environmental impacts of the fuel cycle, the staff conclusions would not be altered if the analysis were to be based on the net electrical power output of the proposed project. Details on the staff’s analysis and conclusions are found in NUREG-1437. A summary of the some of the specific impacts from the uranium