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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.
Swe-Kai Chen, Chi-Meen Wan, En-Hwei Liu, Shuh-Bair Chu, Chi-Yung Liang, Liq-Ji Yuan, Chi-Chiao Wan
Fusion Science and Technology | Volume 29 | Number 2 | March 1996 | Pages 302-305
Technical Note | Nuclear Data | doi.org/10.13182/FST96-A30716
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
Microstructural studies were conducted on palladium specimens that were taken from ambient-temperature heavy water and elevated-temperature molten-salt electrolytic experiments. Both scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and transmission electron microscopy (TEM) were used to investigate the surface and interior portions of these specimens. A subgrain structure could be observed by SEM on the surface along the longitudinal direction and on the surface taken from the cross section of the deuterium-charged specimen rod; the thermoelectrochemical etching process was consequently applied to the deuterium-charged specimen rod. A TEM bright field and selected area diffraction pattern technique verified that dislocation cells and subgrains exist in the deuterium-charged specimens. If cold fusion effects exist in the palladium microstructure, which consists of dislocation cells and subgrains, understanding the cold fusion phenomenon in the microstructure is necessary, and pursuant to this understanding, electrolytic experiments of a palladium rod in molten salt and of heavy water may be useful.