From mine to reactor

摘要

Once uranium is extracted from the ground, it is processed into uranium oxide (U_3O_8) and then converted to uranium hexafluoride (UF_6). Uranium destined to fuel a U.S. light water reactor is then sent to an enrichment facility, where it leaves as UF_6 enriched up to 5 percent uranium-235 and heads to a fabrication facility. This conceptual diagram published by the Congressional Research Service in 2019 depicts the flow of uranium material at the front end of the LWR fuel cycle.