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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.
Masaru Takagi, Kyle Saito, Christopher Frederick, Abbas Nikroo, Robert Cook
Fusion Science and Technology | Volume 51 | Number 4 | May 2007 | Pages 638-642
Technical Paper | doi.org/10.13182/FST51-638
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
We have developed a technique for drawing commercially available polyimide tubing to the required fill tube dimensions. The tubes are then precisely cut with an Excimer laser to produce a clean, flat tip. We have also demonstrated that one can use the Excimer laser to drill less than a 5 m diameter through hole in the ~150 wall of a NIF dimension GDP shell, and can then create a 10-15 m diameter, 20-40 m deep counterbore centered on the through hole with the same laser. Using a home built assembly station the tube is carefully inserted into the counterbore and glued in place with UV-cure epoxy, using a LED UV source to avoid heating the joint. We expect that the same joining technique can be used for Be shells.