How Nuclear Energy is Produced and Where Canada is a Leader in Its Production

Since its creation close to a century ago, nuclear energy has long been viewed by many as the fuel of the future. But how does nuclear energy actually work? Is nuclear energy really that big of a deal in Canada? Here is a guide to the main steps in nuclear energy production and the areas Canada is a leader in nuclear energy production.

Mining

The key material needed to produce nuclear energy is uranium, a dense element that only certain places on Earth have sufficient quantities to mine. Lucky for us… Canada is one of those places.

• In 2022, Canada was the world’s second-largest producer of uranium, behind Kazakhstan at first, and in front of Namibia and Australia at third and fourth.
• The mining and milling of uranium generates $800 million a year in Canada.
• The Canadian uranium industry directly employs over 2,000 people at mine sites, a majority of whom are residents of northern Saskatchewan.

Since Canada is such a large producer of uranium, a majority of our uranium production is exported to other countries is exported to other countries while the remainder of it stays here in Canada where we use it to power our nuclear reactors.

Enrichment

Much of the uranium we export then needs to go through an additional process of enrichment to be used. This is because nuclear energy is created with a specific isotope, uranium 235, which is typically only found in very small quantities in natural uranium (0.7% to be exact). So uranium usually needs to be enriched to levels between 3-5% uranium 235 to be used for nuclear energy.

• Did you know: Monitoring uranium enrichment levels is one method Governments have used to ensure that nuclear energy technologies are being used for peaceful purposes. One of the components of the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (the Iran Nuclear Deal) was that Iran could only have its uranium enriched at 3.67%. While the typical nuclear reactor only requires uranium enrichment levels to be between 3-5%, for uranium to be considered ‘weapons-grade material’ it needs to be enriched to at least 90%.

CANDU Reactors

In Canada, we don’t need to enrich our uranium because our reactors use CANDU technology. CANDU (Canada deuterium uranium) reactors use natural uranium, that has not been enriched, as a fuel. Like all nuclear reactors, CANDU reactors work by producing heat from splitting atoms which then produces steam that pushes a turbine which spins a magnet to generate electricity.

The splitting of atoms to produce nuclear energy is a process called nuclear fission. As can be seen in the diagram below, fission works by having a neutron collide with a uranium 235 atom, thus causing the uranium 235 atom to split and releasing energy in the form of heat and radiation. Along with heat and energy, more neutrons are also released when the uranium atom splits. The neutrons released from the original atom then collide with other uranium 235 atoms, thus creating a chain reaction.

CANDU reactors are such an innovative technology that much of the world has begun to use them. There are 34 CANDU reactors globally, with nearly half of those being in Argentina, China, India, Pakistan, Romania, and South Korea.

The energy from CANDU reactors is used around the world and in Canada to produce clean and reliable electricity that powers schools, homes, hospitals, and workplaces. As of 2022, 15% of Canada’s electricity came from nuclear energy. Nuclear energy is being embraced around the world. According to the International Energy Agency, nuclear energy could make up as much as about 14% of global electricity by 2050, a 4% increase from its current share. So if the world is, looking for nuclear energy, shouldn’t it be Canadian nuclear energy?