Some very useful info from Dr. Michael Dittmar @ The Oil Drum:
- Commercial nuclear reactors are operated in 31 out of the 200 countries on our planet. In 2009, 436 nuclear power plants, with a net installed capacity of 370.2 GW electric power, are in operation. These reactors provide about 14% of the electric energy produced world-wide
- 2008 was the first year since at least 40 years, when not even one new reactor was connected to the electric grid.
- [...] 2005, 2007, and 2008 when, 2626 TWhe, 2608 TWhe, and 2601 TWhe were generated
- 48 reactors are under construction today
- reactors would require roughly 500 tons of natural uranium per GWe for the first load and 170 tons/year during the following years
- the yearly uranium demand will increase from 65,000 tons in 2008 to about 90,000 tons by 2015.
Also:
assume that each nuclear weapon contains on average just the critical mass or at
least 50 kg of U235. Using this assumption, we find that the U235 of one nuclear
bomb corresponds to 7 tons of natural uranium equivalent on average, and that
the uranium from about 25 such bombs is sufficient to operate a 1 GWe reactor for one year
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