# Nuclear fuel transport

Licensed shielded containers for fresh fuel, and heavy casks for spent fuel.

Source page: https://www.materialinsights.org/energy/e_nuclear_transport/

Transport · Solid and nuclear fuels · No. 63

- Transport
- Form: Nuclear fuel
 Transport · Solid and nuclear fuels · Foundation · Energy

One lorry carries about 6 tonnes of fresh nuclear fuel, enough to make roughly 1.75 TWh of electricity.

Chart: Illustration: Nuclear fuel transport

##### Where it comes from

Chart: Map of where it comes from

Mined yellowcake travels in ordinary drums. It is turned into UF6 for enrichment, made into fuel assemblies, and after use returns in shielded casks weighing about 80-125 tonnes.

##### Three things to know

1. Type B casks are tested in an 800 C fire for 30 minutes, and none has ever been breached in transport.
2. Russia supplied 27% of US enrichment services in 2023, before a US import ban that runs to the end of 2040.
3. The US expects over 140,000 tonnes of spent fuel at more than 70 sites by 2060, all of which must eventually move.

##### The journey

1. 1 **Yellowcake**Uranium oxide in ordinary steel drums
2. 2 **UF6 cylinders**Thick steel cylinders to and from enrichment
3. 3 **Fresh fuel**Type A packages, mostly by truck
4. 4 **Spent fuel**Cooled, then sealed in 80-125 t casks
5. 5 **Rail or ship**Heavy casks to storage or reprocessing

##### Go deeper pick a tab to open it in full

## Other sections

- [Overview](https://www.materialinsights.org/energy/e_nuclear_transport/overview/index.md)
- [Correlation](https://www.materialinsights.org/energy/e_nuclear_transport/correlation/index.md)
- [How it works](https://www.materialinsights.org/energy/e_nuclear_transport/explain/index.md)
- [Efficiency and losses](https://www.materialinsights.org/energy/e_nuclear_transport/efficiency/index.md)
- [Technology advances](https://www.materialinsights.org/energy/e_nuclear_transport/advances/index.md)
- [Value chain](https://www.materialinsights.org/energy/e_nuclear_transport/valuechain/index.md)
- [Geopolitics and regulation](https://www.materialinsights.org/energy/e_nuclear_transport/geopolitics/index.md)
- [Unit economics](https://www.materialinsights.org/energy/e_nuclear_transport/economics/index.md)
- [Impact on the biosphere](https://www.materialinsights.org/energy/e_nuclear_transport/biosphere/index.md)
- [Relationships](https://www.materialinsights.org/energy/e_nuclear_transport/links/index.md)