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Division Spotlight
Fuel Cycle & Waste Management
Devoted to all aspects of the nuclear fuel cycle including waste management, worldwide. Division specific areas of interest and involvement include uranium conversion and enrichment; fuel fabrication, management (in-core and ex-core) and recycle; transportation; safeguards; high-level, low-level and mixed waste management and disposal; public policy and program management; decontamination and decommissioning environmental restoration; and excess weapons materials disposition.
Meeting Spotlight
2024 ANS Annual Conference
June 16–19, 2024
Las Vegas, NV|Mandalay Bay Resort and Casino
Standards Program
The Standards Committee is responsible for the development and maintenance of voluntary consensus standards that address the design, analysis, and operation of components, systems, and facilities related to the application of nuclear science and technology. Find out What’s New, check out the Standards Store, or Get Involved today!
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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.
International High-Level Radioactive Waste Management 2022 Speaker
Dr. Erika Holt is an expert in radioactive waste management and holds a PhD (2001) in Civil Engineering. Erika is currently the co-coordinator of the project “PREDIS: Pre-disposal management of radioactive waste” at VTT, with a focus on the stakeholder engagement issues. She has managed a portfolio of VTT’s jointly-funded (public) projects related to the Finnish and international nuclear sector (~250 VTT persons). She has been on the Finnish national governmental committee for the Nuclear Energy strategy (Vision2020, 2014) and served as an evaluator of European Commission research and development proposals.
Erika holds a Doctoral Degree from the University of Washington (Seattle, USA, 2001) in Civil and Environmental Engineering, with an emphasis on concrete material durability. Her VTT research areas are addressing utilization of sustainable materials and service life approaches to material performance. She has conducted R&D and technical support on radioactive waste repository issues for 18 years, for both Finland and international clients. Most recently, her expertise projects have focused on initial state performance of engineered barrier materials, construction, designs and safety for high level nuclear waste repositories, including being a project manager for Posiva Oy. She has earlier worked at Golder Associates. She has over 100 scientific articles and numerous public speaking engagements.
Contact information:
erika.holt@vtt.fi, +358 40 593 1986
https://www.vttresearch.com/nuclear
Last modified October 28, 2022, 6:26am MST
