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The busyness of the nuclear fuel supply chain
Ken Petersenpresident@ans.org
With all that is happening in the industry these days, the nuclear fuel supply chain is still a hot topic. The Russian assault in Ukraine continues to upend the “where” and “how” of attaining nuclear fuel—and it has also motivated U.S. legislators to act.
Two years into the Russian war with Ukraine, things are different. The Inflation Reduction Act was passed in 2022, authorizing $700 million in funding to support production of high-assay low-enriched uranium in the United States. Meanwhile, the Department of Energy this January issued a $500 million request for proposals to stimulate new HALEU production. The Emergency National Security Supplemental Appropriations Act of 2024 includes $2.7 billion in funding for new uranium enrichment production. This funding was diverted from the Civil Nuclear Credits program and will only be released if there is a ban on importing Russian uranium into the United States—which could happen by the time this column is published, as legislation that bans Russian uranium has passed the House as of this writing and is headed for the Senate. Also being considered is legislation that would sanction Russian uranium. Alternatively, the Biden-Harris administration may choose to ban Russian uranium without legislation in order to obtain access to the $2.7 billion in funding.
Scott R. Chubb, Talbot A. Chubb
Fusion Science and Technology | Volume 24 | Number 4 | December 1993 | Pages 403-416
Technical Paper | Nuclear Reactions in Solid | doi.org/10.13182/FST93-A30190
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
The effects that limit deuterium-deuterium (D-D) fusion in bound systems, as opposed to those limiting D-D fusion in free space, are the result of quantum-mechanical particle-particle wave function correlation, which may inhibit wave function overlap. Whether or not this occurs at room temperature is determined by system energy minimization, not Gamow theory. A counterintuitive example, known from atomic physics, that demonstrates how this alternative criterion may alter the relevant quantum mechanics is illustrated by the helium atom. At room temperature, near-complete overlap of the two helium electrons takes place when energy is minimized, while Gamow theory predicts negligible overlap. On the other hand, energy minimization does predict that no nucleus-nucleus overlap ever occurs in any normal molecule. In D+ ion band-state matter, D+-D+ overlap occurs if the distributed charge view of quantum reality is correct, in which case D+ band-state matter converts to 4He++ band-state matter, releasing heat throughout a crystal lattice. This occurs in the limit x → 1 in PdDx (in agreement with experiments), provided adequate crystalline order is present. Further deuterium loading requires that additional injected deuterium occupy ionic band-like states in which only a small fraction of each additional deuterium atom occupies a lattice unit cell. Then, in each nuclear reaction, again to minimize energy of the entire system, the energy is distributed over many lattice sites, inhibiting production of energetic particles. Theory shows that steady-state power is proportional to the loading current. These points are discussed. An expression for P is derived, and possible cold fusion reactions are summarized.