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Front-end nuclear fuel supply cooperation: Turning allied interdependence into strategic advantage
The global nuclear revival, which is fueled by unprecedented demand for firm, affordable, dispatchable power for artificial intelligence and data center build-out, energy security imperatives, and climate commitments, has exposed a structural reality of the Western fuel cycle: No single allied nation currently possesses the full suite of front-end capabilities. From mining through conversion, enrichment, fabrication, and the emerging deconversion and metallization steps required for reactor fuels, capability is distributed across Canada, France, Japan, the United Kingdom, and the United States (collectively, the “Sapporo Five”), as well as a small group of close partners.
C. H. Skinner, C. A. Gentile, R. Doerner
Fusion Science and Technology | Volume 64 | Number 1 | July 2013 | Pages 1-7
Technical Paper | doi.org/10.13182/FST13-A17041
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
Practical methods to clean ITER's diagnostic mirrors will be essential to ITER's plasma operations. We report on laser cleaning of candidate ITER single-crystal molybdenum mirrors that were plasma coated with either carbon or beryllium films 150 to 420 nm thick. A pulsed Nd laser beam was focused to 1 to 2 J/cm2 and scanned at various speeds across the surface of a mirror. The cleaning effect was measured with a novel method that combined microscopic imaging and reflectivity measurements in the red, green, and blue spectral regions and at the H-alpha and H-beta wavelengths. No damage of the molybdenum mirror substrates was observed at the range of laser intensities used. For carbon-coated mirrors, complete removal of the film and restoration of the reflectivity were measured in some conditions. For the beryllium-coated mirrors, restoration of reflectivity has so far been incomplete. Heat transfer calculations suggest a shorter, [approximately]5-ns laser pulse would be optimal.