Current through Register Vol. 54, No. 38, September 21, 2024
(a) The nuclear fuel procurement process
consists of the following major procurement and processing steps prior to
delivery of fuel bundles to the nuclear plant, where the bundles are
receipt-inspected prior to insertion in the reactor.
(1)
Mining/milling. Purchase
of uranium concentrates (U3O8)
from a supplier who processes the material as follows: After mining, the
uranium ore is shipped to a milling facility which extracts uranium
concentrates by a chemical leaching process. After drying and further
processing, the substance consists of about 90% uranium oxide compound
(U3O8), which is referred to as
"yellow cake". In the nuclear fuel procurement process, the most options exist
for the acquisition of "yellow cake" where many suppliers exist. A utility
generally procures U3O8 ("yellow
cake") delivered to a preselected convertor.
(2)
Conversion. The next
step in the procurement process is the purchase of conversion services.
Conversion is a chemical process where the
U3O8 is further refined,
impurities are extracted and in a series of additional steps the
U3O8 is converted to natural
uranium hexafluoride (UF6). Conversion services
represent a very small component of the total cost of nuclear fuel.
(3)
Enrichment.
(i) Natural UF6 is
shipped to an enrichment facility where it is subjected to a process to
increase the percentage of U-235 above that of the natural uranium. Enrichment
is a complex, costly and energy intensive procedure.
(ii) Domestic facilities owned and operated
by the United States Government enrich a major portion of uranium used by the
worldwide commercial reactor industry. Enrichment is performed under contracts
that are negotiated many years in advance of the actual work and are now
typically based upon the actual reactor requirements at time of order
placement.
(iii) New enrichment
technologies are currently being developed. These technologies, if successfully
demonstrated and licensed, may offer lower cost alternatives to that currently
provided by the United States Government.
(4)
Fabrication. Fabrication
services usually include shipment of the enriched UF6 to
the fabricator, where it is converted to solid (UO2)
fuel pellets. The fuel pellets are loaded into hollow fuel rods made of a
special zirconium alloy which are then assembled into fuel bundles for use in
the reactor. Fuel assembly fabrication services have historically been provided
by the manufacturer of the nuclear steam supply system. In most cases, however,
other vendors are capable of performing fuel assembly services.
(5)
Receipt/inspection. At
the reactor site the fabricated fuel bundles shall be loaded, moved to the fuel
floor and receipt/inspected prior to loading in the reactor in a predetermined
sequence. The fuel is normally delivered 2 to 3 months before the reactor is
shut down.
(b) The
nuclear fuel procurement process for reload quantities of fuel bundles,
excluding contract negotiations, from purchase of
U3O8 through loading in the
reactor normally requires between 15 months and 24 months to
complete.
This section cited in 52 Pa. Code §
69.201 (relating to general); 52
Pa. Code §
69.205 (relating to purchasing
procedures); and 52 Pa. Code §
69.206 (relating to inventory
management).
