Conclusion
Energy Recovery from Nuclear Waste Generated by the French Nuclear Industry

The fission of 1 g of ²³⁵U produces ≈ 23 MWh of heat. To achieve the same order of magnitude, nearly 2 metric tons of oil are required, since 1 metric ton of oil releases approximately 12 MWh upon combustion. For hydropower, 100 million liters of water falling from a height of 100 m are needed to produce ≈ 27 MWh. These comparisons illustrate just how much more concentrated nuclear energy is than other sources, which explains its use in large-scale electricity generation. To put this into perspective with regard to French consumption, the average household uses about 4 to 5 MWh of electricity per year. Its total energy consumption—including electricity, heating, and fuels—is around 30 to 40 MWh annually.

Natural uranium is the primary source of nuclear energy. With current technology, based on slow-neutron nuclear reactors, only a tiny fraction of the energy potentially contained...