Country nuclear fuel cycle profile: Australia

Australia is a major uranium supplier to the world's nuclear power programme. It has no nuclear power plants. Uranium oxide is produced at 3 commercial mining/milling operations, Ranger, Olympic Dam and Beverley. Ranger consists of an open cut mining operation and a concentration plant. The plant has a production capability of 4660 t U/a. Olympic Dam, with a capacity of 3930 t U/a, consists of an underground mining operation and a metallurgical complex. The metallurgical complex includes a grinding/concentration circuit, a hydrometallurgical plant, a copper smelter, a copper refinery and a recovery circuit for precious metals. Beverley (based on ISL technology) has a production capability of 848 t U/a. Pilot scale research into the enrichment of uranium by the use of lasers has been conducted in Australia since the early 1990s. This research has not yet been commercialized