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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.
M A Pick, JET Team
Fusion Science and Technology | Volume 34 | Number 3 | November 1998 | Pages 1137-1143
Remote Maintenance Technology | doi.org/10.13182/FST98-A11963766
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
In 1997 a series of experiments were performed in the JET machine using deuterium-tritium (D-T) mixtures and resulting in discharges with record breaking fusion power and fusion energy. The experiments demonstrated a key technology required for fusion, namely the on-line operation of a tritium fuel re-processing plant.
These experiments left the inside of the JET vessel inaccessible to manned access for approximately one year. During this time, the complete Mark IIA divertor, a major system within the torus, was successfully removed and replaced with a new divertor design, the Mark II Gas Box divertor, using only remote handling techniques. This was the first application of the JET remote handling system and a demonstration of a further key ITER technology.
The paper explains the methodology and operational approach taken to achieve the results using the remote handling system developed at JET. It describes the remote handling equipment including the force-reflecting servomanipulator, the specialised tools designed, the facilities needed, and the trials, planning and training carried out to ensure the safe, reliable and rapid completion of the remote handling tasks. The planned tasks are outlined including the execution of the novel procedure for a remote, sub-millimetre precision, dimensional survey of the divertor support structure using digital photogrammetry. Furthermore the paper shows how the adaptability of the system was used to successfully undertake a large number of unplanned tasks including the removal of damaged tiles, a damaged diagnostic system and the vacuum cleaning of diagnostic windows.