Natural uranium cannot normally fuel a power reactor without processing. Conversion, enrichment and fabrication turn yellowcake into fuel assemblies, each step with its own materials balance and cost.
These pages explain the chain and provide transparent calculators whose formulas are shown on the page.
Fuel cycle: all pages in this section
Fuel cycle
The Nuclear Fuel Production Chain: From Ore to Fuel Assembly
How uranium ore becomes reactor fuel: milling to U3O8, conversion to UF6, enrichment, pellet and assembly fabrication, with typical mass flows per reactor.
Fuel cycle
Nuclear Fuel Material Balance Calculator
Trace uranium through enrichment: feed, product and tails mass, plus U3O8 and UF6 equivalents. Conversion factors, worked 1 tonne example, assumptions.
Fuel cycle
Uranium Enrichment and SWU Calculator
Calculate separative work (SWU), feed and tails for any product, tails and feed assay. Formulas, a worked 4.5% example and the limits of the method.
Fuel cycle
Energy Balance of the Nuclear Fuel Cycle
How much energy the nuclear fuel cycle uses and returns: enrichment methods, EROI and life-cycle studies compared, and why published results differ widely.
Fuel cycle
Uranium Mine Feasibility: Illustrative Cash-Flow Calculator
Illustrative uranium mine cash-flow calculator: how grade, recovery, price, costs and discount rate drive NPV. User-entered assumptions, no project data.
Fuel cycle
Nuclear Fuel Cycle Costs: What Makes Up the Price of Fuel
What makes up the cost of nuclear fuel: uranium, conversion, enrichment and fabrication shares, fuel as a part of generating cost, and price sensitivity.
Fuel cycle
Nuclear Fuel Facilities Worldwide: Conversion, Enrichment, Fabrication
Who converts, enriches and fabricates nuclear fuel and where: Orano, Urenco, Rosatom, CNNC, Cameco, ConverDyn, Westinghouse, Framatome, GNF and others.