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June 16–19, 2024
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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.
N. D. See, S. Cetiner, B. R. Betzler
Nuclear Science and Engineering | Volume 196 | Number 12 | December 2022 | Pages 1476-1495
Technical Paper | doi.org/10.1080/00295639.2021.2011571
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
This paper will demonstrate the potential of modern design for additive manufacturing by using computational fluid dynamics with design optimization. The Transformational Challenge Reactor Instrumentation and Control (I&C) Team has specifically requested that an instrumentation plane be designed for monitoring of the core-coolant-flow average temperature within ±5°C of the core outlet average temperature. However, because of systemwide constraints, this design space is allotted a pressure drop of only 0.5 psi. A successful design optimization study is discussed along with the thought process leading to the successful conclusion of an I&C plane with an average temperature of 497.3°C and a standard deviation of 1.03°C, all while maintaining a 3.38-kPa (0.49-psi) pressure drop across the outlet plenum.