The diagram illustrates the usage of uranium in the nuclear power production.
The first step is the mining of uranium from the earth as it is a natural resource. During the next step, the mined uranium ore undergoes a coversion process, which is followed by its enrichment when the U-235 fuel pellets are created. This U-235 fuel then used in generators in nuclear power plants to produce electricity. The U-235 fuel pellets have a life span of around four years. When this period is up, fuel is considered to be used and is replaced with fresh pellets. The final step is the appropriate placement of the nuclear waste, which is filled into barrels or containers and buried under the ground, far away from anyone to access. In some cases, the spent fuel can go through again the production process and used for electricity generation again.
Overall, we can see that the process is linear, meaning that it has a starting and a finishing point and cannot be repeated, except for the few occasions when spent fuel can be re-processed.
