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Conference Spotlight
Nuclear Energy Conference & Expo (NECX)
September 8–11, 2025
Atlanta, GA|Atlanta Marriott Marquis
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Fusion Science and Technology
August 2025
Latest News
U.S. nuclear fuel recycling takes two steps forward
Late last week saw two announcements from companies working to recycle used nuclear fuel on a commercial scale, providing welcome news to anyone hoping to see the United States move to unlock the hidden potential of the more than 94,000 metric tons of spent fuel stored at power plant sites around the country.
S. Bhandarkar, S. A. Letts, S. Buckley, C. Alford, E. Lindsey, J. Hughes, K. P. Youngblood, K. Moreno, H. Xu, H. Huang, A. Nikroo
Fusion Science and Technology | Volume 51 | Number 4 | May 2007 | Pages 564-571
Technical Paper | doi.org/10.13182/FST07-A1445
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
The choice of the mandrel material has a significant bearing on the properties of the sputter-coated beryllium shell needed for NIF targets. Here, we present our work on screening four mandrel materials, their impact on the Be shell and issues related to their subsequent removal. Beryllium shells sputter deposited on hollow glow discharge polymer or GDP spheres met most of the target specifications. However, they had greater opacity due to partial oxidation of the Be during the GDP burnout step. Poly (-methyl styrene), silicon and nickel beads were explored as alternative mandrels but were plagued with problems such as cracking of the Be shell or incomplete removal. The most promising approach was a two-step coating process mediated by a thin 6m Be mandrel that is made using GDP.