Transcript Sustainability Aspects of Uranium Mining: Towards Accurate

Dr Gavin M Mudd
Environmental Engineering
Sustainability Aspects
of Uranium Mining
February 2007
eng.monash.edu.au/enveng
The Eternal Nuclear Debate …
Hiroshima, 6 Aug. 1945
Bowker, 1948
Bowker, 1948
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Uranium Mining
• Re-invigoration of the nuclear debate has
seen spirited exchanges over the life cycle
assessments of nuclear energy versus other
energy systems
• A central aim of these studies is to quantify
the unit CO2 emissions for nuclear vs others
• Although it is generally accepted that as ore
grade declines, emissions will increase –
there are numerous aspects to this, eg. :
– resources, ore grade & type, energy/water costs etc.
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Outline From Here :
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Data Sources and Methodology
Analysis of Sustainability Metrics
Results – Global Uranium Production
Results – Global Uranium Resources
Results – Energy & Water Consumption
Results – Greenhouse Emissions
Discussion : Deficiencies, Future Work …
Summary
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Data Sources & Methodology
• Surprisingly, data is readily available for
production for many countries, eg. :
– mining periodicals (CNRC, USBM, OECD-IAEA, …)
– papers, company annual and technical reports, etc
• Resources data compiled (mostly) from
company annual and technical reports
• Energy-Water-CO2 data is sourced from
company social/environmental/
sustainability reports
• Sust. data is converted to unit efficiency
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Analysis of Sustainability Metrics
• Some key issues for sustainability include
energy and water consumption and
greenhouse emissions
• The ‘eco-efficiency’ of various uranium
mines is compared using the unit
consumption (/emission) per uranium
oxide produced relative to ore grade :
– kL water / t U3O8 ; t CO2 / t U3O8
– GJ energy / t U3O8
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Uranium Ore Grade by Country
10
Australia
Canada
Mongolia
Namibia
South Africa
United States of America
Ore Grade (%U3O8)
1
0.1
0.01
1945
1950
1955
1960
1965
1970
1975
1980
1985
1990
1995
2000
2005
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Global Uranium Production Trends
Ore Milled
Calculated Percentage Production
Western World Uranium Production (kt U3O8)
Ore Grade / Yield (%U3O8)
0.4
0.35
80
0.3
0.25
60
0.2
40
0.15
0.1
20
0.05
0
1945
0
1955
1965
1975
1985
1995
2005
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Ore Grade (%U3O8)
Ore Milled (Mt) / Production (kt U 3O8) / Calc. %Production
100
Uranium Resources v Time
6.0
1.2
Western World (Total)
Australia
Australia
Global
Canada
5.0
South Africa
United States
Uranium Resources (Mt U3O8)
Country Average Resource Grade (%U3O8)
1.0
0.8
0.6
0.4
0.2
4.0
3.0
2.0
1.0
0.0
1940
1950
1960
1970
1980
1990
2000
2010
0.0
1940
1950
1960
1970
1980
1990
2000
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2010
Uranium Deposits : Size, Grade
200
1,500
Australia
Olympic Dam
Canada
USA
1,200
Contained Uranium Resources (kt U3O8)
160
Kazakhstan
Niger
Namibia
900
France
120
<0.5% U3O8
Malawi
600
Mongolia
South Africa
Brazil
80
300
Zambia
McArthur River
Cigar Lake
0
40
0
2
4
6
8
10
12
14
16
18
20
0
0
1.1
2.2
3.3
4.4
Deposit Ore Grade (%U3O8)
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5.5
Energy & Water v Ore Grade
4.0
2,000
600
Ranger
Ranger
Olympic Dam (100%)
1,800
Olympic Dam (20%)
Olympic Dam (20%)
Rossing
Rossing
1,600
Cluff Lake
400
McLean Lake
1,400
1,200
1,000
200
800
600
0
0
400
Cluff Lake
3.0
Unit Water Consumption (ML/t U3 O8 )
Unit Energy Consumption (GJ/t U3 O8 )
Olympic Dam (100%)
1.0
3.5
0.5
McLean Lake
2.5
0.5
2.0
1.5
0.0
0
1.0
0.5
0.5
200
0
0.0
0
0.5
1
1.5
Ore Grade (%U3O8)
2
2.5
3
0
0.5
1
1.5
2
2.5
Ore Grade (%U3O8)
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Greenhouse Emissions
400
100
Ranger
Olympic Dam (100%)
350
Olympic Dam (20%)
Unit Carbon Dioxide Emissions (t CO2 /t U3 O8 )
Rossing
300
Cluff Lake
McLean Lake
250
50
200
150
0
100
0.5
0
50
0
0
0.5
1
1.5
2
2.5
3
Ore Grade (%U3O8 )
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Discussion & Future Work
• Uranium Resources – Finite or Not ?
– clear evidence that exploration over time has
continued to sustain economic resources
– ore grades by country are mostly declining
– despite rich Canadian ores, global average ore
grade has not increased
– future production will come from lower grade ores
• Sustainability Metrics
– unit energy/water/CO2 have been quantified,
showing clear sensitivity to ore grade
– however, still need to do complete I/O LCA …
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Summary & Conclusions
• Key issues underpinning the contested
sustainability of nuclear power, centred on
various aspects of uranium mining
• Over time, resources have been
maintained but grades are mostly decling
• Sustainability metrics such as energy,
water & CO2 are sensitive to ore grade, and
resource intensity increases as grade
declines
• More work needed to do complete LCA …
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