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2026 Nuclear Energy Conference & Expo (NECX)
August 24–27, 2026
Dallas, TX|Hilton Anatole
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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.
John J. Roberts, R. F. Fleming, Harold P. Smith, Jr.
Nuclear Science and Engineering | Volume 27 | Number 3 | March 1967 | Pages 573-580
Technical Paper | doi.org/10.13182/NSE86-A17624
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
The logic of the time-optimal solution to the xenon shutdown problem for a point reactor model has been successfully applied to an actual reactor system. Spatial integration of the flux-square weighted xenon concentration was used. The predetermined power variation with time successfully held the xenon boundary and created a final shutdown (target) trajectory whose maximum was within three percent of the specified boundary based on the total reactivity variation of the program. Although digital computer calculation, occasionally using trial-and-error techniques, was necessary to predict the power-time shutdown program, the computer requirements were not excessive. Approximately 7 h of additional reactor operation was utilized to prevent a 16 h period during which xenon buildup would have prevented reactor operation.