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Conference Spotlight
Nuclear Energy Conference & Expo (NECX)
September 8–11, 2025
Atlanta, GA|Atlanta Marriott Marquis
Standards Program
The Standards Committee is responsible for the development and maintenance of voluntary consensus standards that address the design, analysis, and operation of components, systems, and facilities related to the application of nuclear science and technology. Find out What’s New, check out the Standards Store, or Get Involved today!
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August 2025
Latest News
Powering the future: How the DOE is fueling nuclear fuel cycle research and development
As global interest in nuclear energy surges, the United States must remain at the forefront of research and development to ensure national energy security, advance nuclear technologies, and promote international cooperation on safety and nonproliferation. A crucial step in achieving this is analyzing how funding and resources are allocated to better understand how to direct future research and development. The Department of Energy has spearheaded this effort by funding hundreds of research projects across the country through the Nuclear Energy University Program (NEUP). This initiative has empowered dozens of universities to collaborate toward a nuclear-friendly future.
Magdi Ragheb, Saman Behtash
Nuclear Science and Engineering | Volume 88 | Number 1 | September 1984 | Pages 16-36
Technical Paper | doi.org/10.13182/NSE84-A17137
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
A model for the analysis of the growth rates of the reactor economies, the associated material flows, the energy balances of a system of coupled D-3He satellites and 3He generators, and fusion, hybrid, and fission reactors is developed to explore different system configurations and implementation strategies. Hybrids or fuel factories have low electrical support ratios ranging from 0.08 to 0.17. For generators based on the deuterium-tritium fuel cycle, the electrical support ratios range from 1.1, at 10 yr after implementation, to 2.4 after 50 yr. For generators based on the semi-catalyzed deuterium-deuterium (SCD) fuel cycle, these numbers are 2.5 and 4.5, respectively. The maximization of the support ratios is associated with a saturation tritium inventory of 3 kg/MW(thermal) of SCD fusion generators and 0.63 kg/MW(thermal) of the total installed capacity. The options available for system implementation using large support ratios with tritium breeding or low support ratios without tritium breeding are discussed.
