ANS is committed to advancing, fostering, and promoting the development and application of nuclear sciences and technologies to benefit society.
Explore the many uses for nuclear science and its impact on energy, the environment, healthcare, food, and more.
Explore membership for yourself or for your organization.
Conference Spotlight
2026 Nuclear Energy Conference & Expo (NECX)
August 24–27, 2026
Dallas, TX|Hilton Anatole
Latest Magazine Issues
Aug 2026
Jan 2026
2026
Latest Journal Issues
Nuclear Science and Engineering
October 2026
Nuclear Technology
September 2026
Fusion Science and Technology
August 2026
Latest News
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.
Charles W. Townley, James E. Howes, Jr., Gilbert E. Raines, Ward S. Diethorn, Duane N. Sttnderman
Nuclear Science and Engineering | Volume 10 | Number 4 | August 1961 | Pages 346-351
doi.org/10.13182/NSE61-A15376
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
A radiochemical technique has been developed for the determination of the release rates of short-lived fission gases from fuel specimens during irradiation. Fission-product gases with half-lives ranging from 1.7 sec to 3.9 min were employed in the development of the procedure. These were krypton-89, xenon-137, xenon-140, and xenon-141. The procedure involves the collection and analysis of the solid daughter products of these gases. The gases are swept through a long tube packed with stainless steel mesh, and the daughter products deposit on the mesh as they are formed. The mesh is analyzed radiochemically for the daughter species, strontium-89, cesium-137, barium-140, and cerium-141. From the results of these analyses, the release rates of the parent fission gases may be calculated with a knowledge of the transit time of the gases through the tran and the transport time from the point of release to the trap entrance.