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Front-end nuclear fuel supply cooperation: Turning allied interdependence into strategic advantage
The global nuclear revival, which is fueled by unprecedented demand for firm, affordable, dispatchable power for artificial intelligence and data center build-out, energy security imperatives, and climate commitments, has exposed a structural reality of the Western fuel cycle: No single allied nation currently possesses the full suite of front-end capabilities. From mining through conversion, enrichment, fabrication, and the emerging deconversion and metallization steps required for reactor fuels, capability is distributed across Canada, France, Japan, the United Kingdom, and the United States (collectively, the “Sapporo Five”), as well as a small group of close partners.
R. L. Macklin, J. Halperin
Nuclear Science and Engineering | Volume 64 | Number 4 | December 1977 | Pages 849-858
Technical Paper | doi.org/10.13182/NSE77-A14500
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
Neutron capture by isotopically purified 232Th was measured at the Oak Ridge Electron Linear Accelerator. The pulse-height weighting method was used with small liquid scintillators to measure the prompt gamma-ray energy release following neutron capture. Resonance parameters were derived up to 10 keV. The average radiative width was (19.8 ± 0.2 statistical ± 0.4 systematic) meV for 50 resonances in the 2.6- to 4.0-keV interval. Strength functions 104S0 = 0.365 ± 0.024, 104 S1 = 1.078 ± 0.057, 104S2 > 0.842 ± 0.084, and y/D0 = 0.0198/(13.24 ± 0.71) were found to fit the average cross section well (to 105 keV) when allowance was made for p-wave inelastic competition above the ∼50-keV threshold. While the values stated gave the best fit (from 2.6 to 105 keV) when all four were allowed to vary, it is likely that “acceptable” fits could be forced for other values. Recent evaluations of the cross section range from 8 to 50% higher than results reported here.