[3J01-05] General/Fuel Debris 1

[3J01] A Study on Long Term Utilization of Nuclear Fuel

Origin, Distribution and Primary Energy Supply Potential of Nuclear Fuel

*Kunihiro Itoh¹, Kazuo Ikeda¹ (1. Nuclear Development Corporation)

Keywords:origin, distribution, uranium in seawater, uranium in offshore bedrock, primary energy, supply potential

Nuclear fuel materials (U, Th) are produced by coalescence of neutron stars after the supernova explosion and are scattered in the universe, taken in during solar system generation and are distributed with almost equal composition in the system. In the Earth, U exists in a form that is readily available in the crust (in land, seawater and offshore bedrock) and the potential to supply the total amount of primary energy that U has is extremely high (over 1 million years in light water reactors, 100 million years or more by using the fast reactor fuel cycle).