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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.
John C. Wagner, Charlotta E. Sanders
Nuclear Technology | Volume 139 | Number 2 | August 2002 | Pages 91-126
Technical Paper | Fuel Cycle and Management | doi.org/10.13182/NT02-A3307
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
The effect of fixed absorbers on the reactivity of pressurized water reactor (PWR) spent nuclear fuel (SNF) in support of burnup-credit criticality safety analyses is examined. A fuel assembly burned in conjunction with fixed absorbers may have a higher reactivity for a given burnup than an assembly that has not used fixed absorbers. As a result, guidance on burnup credit, issued by the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission's Spent Fuel Project Office, recommends restricting the use of burnup credit to assemblies that have not used burnable absorbers. This recommendation eliminates a large portion of the currently discharged SNF from loading in burnup credit casks and thus severely limits the practical usefulness of burnup credit. Therefore, data are needed to support the extension of burnup credit to additional SNF. This research investigates the effect of various fixed absorbers, including integral burnable absorbers, burnable poison rods, control rods, and axial power shaping rods, on the reactivity of PWR SNF. Trends in reactivity with relevant parameters (e.g., initial fuel enrichment, burnup and absorber type, exposure, and design) are established, and anticipated reactivity effects are quantified. Where appropriate, recommendations are offered for addressing the reactivity effects of the fixed absorbers in burnup-credit safety analyses.