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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.
A. Nobile, S. C. Dropinski, J. M. Edwards, G. Rivera, R. W. Margevicius, R. J. Sebring, R. E. Olson, D. L. Tanner
Fusion Science and Technology | Volume 45 | Number 2 | March 2004 | Pages 127-136
Technical Paper | Target Fabrication | doi.org/10.13182/FST04-A439
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
Beryllium-copper alloy (Be0.9%Cu) ICF capsules are being developed for the pursuit of thermonuclear ignition at the National Ignition Facility (NIF). Success of this capsule material requires that its shock propagation and radiation burnthrough characteristics be accurately understood. To this end, experiments are being conducted to measure the shock propagation and radiation burnthrough properties of Be0.9%Cu alloy. These experiments involve measurements on small Be0.9%Cu wedge, step and flat samples. Samples are mounted on 1.6-mm-diameter × 1.2-mm-length hohlraums that are illuminated by the OMEGA laser at the University of Rochester. X-rays produced by the hohlraum drive the sample. A streaked optical pyrometer detects breakout of the shock produced by the X-ray pulse. In this paper we describe synthesis of the alloy material, fabrication and characterization of samples, and assembly of the targets. Samples were produced from Be0.9%Cu alloy that was synthesized by hot isostatic pressing of Be powder and copper flake. Samples were 850 m diameter disks with varying thickness in the case of wedge and step samples, and uniform thickness in the case of flat samples. Sample thickness varied in the range 10-90 m. Samples were prepared by precision lathe machining and electric discharge machining. The samples were characterized by a Veeco white light interferometer and an optical thickness measurement device that simultaneously measured the upper and lower surface contours of samples using two confocal laser probes. Several campaigns with these samples have been conducted over the past two years.