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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.
R. C. Wolf
Fusion Science and Technology | Volume 45 | Number 2 | March 2004 | Pages 475-488
Technical Paper | Plasma and Fusion Energy Physics - Present Status and Future | doi.org/10.13182/FST04-A514
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
Based on the fusion reaction between the nuclei of the hydrogen isotopes deuterium and tritium magnetic confinement fusion research aims to develop an electricity producing power plant. The principle concept is to confine a plasma, consisting of these nuclei and their electrons, in a magnetic field configuration in such a way that the thermal plasma can reach temperatures and densities at which sufficient fusion reactions take place to achieve a positive energy balance. The products of the fusion reactions are helium nuclei or -particles and neutrons. The first, also bound to the magnetic field lines, are supposed to transfer their energy to the thermal plasma and thus sustain the fusion reaction. The latter, because they are not confined by the magnetic field, can leave the plasma directly and are used to breed tritium from lithium and convert the fusion energy into heat.