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.
John B. Sampson, E. A. Luebke
Nuclear Science and Engineering | Volume 4 | Number 6 | December 1958 | Pages 745-761
doi.org/10.13182/NSE58-A15496
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
A fuel element consisting of plutonium and uranium oxide in steel tubing and capable of a large fraction of fuel burnup is described. As this fuel element makes possible recovery and refabrication with fewer steps than are required for a metal fuel element, lower recycle costs result. Breeders with fuel and fertile material in both oxide and metallic form were analyzed by the multigroup method on the UNIVAC for the purpose of comparing characteristics. A summary of the calculations is presented. The decrease in the breeding ratio resulting from the replacement of the metal core by oxide is only 0.2, a small effect in a future nuclear power economy where plutonium will have a low value as fuel rather than a high value as weapon material. Use of an oxide blanket may further reduce the breeding ratio by 0.05. An illustrative design is presented which has five atoms of uranium per atom of plutonium in the core and 45% sodium, a breeding ratio of 1.4 and a critical mass of 400 kg. Incremental refueling is assumed to reduce the control range required for 50% burnup of the original fuel loaded.