The flow chart illustrates the process of producing nuclear power from uranium in order to make electricity.
Overall, there are six steps involved in the procedure of nuclear power, beginning with collecting raw substances and ending with how spent fuel is processed.
To begin with, special tools like electric drills are used to mine into the earth’s surface in order to find uranium ore. This raw material is then sent to professional labs, where the conversion process and enrichment are used to make U-235 fuel pellets. Once the substance has completely converted, power plants are able to apply them as fuel to powering generators and start making electricity.
Subsequently, after about 4 years of usage, these pellets run out of power and are divided into two contrasting types of fuel: reusable and not reusable. Some spent fuel that is able to be reprocessed is then put back into power plant buildings and keep generating power. At the same time, those fuels, after being used and cannot be processed again, are stored in containers and buried in the ground. Although there is no fuel left in the pellets, harmful chemicals like radiation are not disposed of and make the area around them radioactive.