how does the energy spent in enrichment of nuclear fuel compare to the energy released by its fission for the same amount?

Question

how does the energy spent in enrichment of nuclear fuel compare to the energy released by its fission for the same amount?

In: Physics

Answer 1

Uranium enrichment costs roughly [50-60 kWh per kg](https://energyeducation.ca/encyclopedia/Uranium_enrichment). 1 kg of enriched uranium can produce up to [24 million kWh](https://www.euronuclear.org/info/encyclopedia/f/fuelcomparison.htm) of energy through fission. So the ratio is approximately 500,000 to 1. This doesn’t take into account inefficiencies in the reactor or additional energy spent on related activities, but it’s hard to imagine those would account for more than a hundredfold decrease, which would still give a ratio of 5,000 to 1.