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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.
Yuxin Chai, Xingui Zhou, Huayu Zhang, Yumin Zhang
Fusion Science and Technology | Volume 75 | Number 2 | February 2019 | Pages 112-119
Technical Paper | doi.org/10.1080/15361055.2018.1533620
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
Silicon carbide (SiC) fiber–reinforced SiC matrix (SiCf/SiC) composites, employing two SiC fibers, KD-I and KD-II, respectively, were fabricated by the precursor infiltration and pyrolysis process. A pyrocarbon coating was used as the fiber-matrix interface. In addition, the effects of heat treatment on the properties of the SiC fibers and SiCf/SiC composites were investigated. Results revealed marginal performance degradation of the KD-I and KD-II SiC fibers after heat treatment at 1100°C for 1 h. However, heat treatment at 1400°C for 1 h led to the decrease in the single-filament tensile strength of the KD-I and KD-II SiC fibers by 50.2% and 10.1%, respectively. In addition, the flexural strength of the SiCf/SiC composites, which were fabricated using the KD-I and KD-II SiC fibers, decreased by 49.6% and 15.9%, respectively. The difference in the composition of the KD-I and KD-II SiC fibers demonstrated that the SiC fibers and SiCf/SiC composites decreased by varying degrees.