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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.
Yoichi Watanabe
Nuclear Science and Engineering | Volume 118 | Number 3 | November 1994 | Pages 178-185
Technical Paper | doi.org/10.13182/NSE94-A19383
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
Electrical conductivities of weakly ionized nuclear plasmas were computed by numerically solving an electron Boltzmann equation. A pure 3He gas and 3He-Na gaseous mixtures were analyzed. The gases are ionized by fast ions (0.19-MeV tritons and 0.59-MeV protons), which are generated from in situ neutron-3He nuclear reactions. The results show that the electrical conductivity of the 3He-Na gaseous mixtures is higher than that of the pure helium gas because of the enhanced ionization of seeded sodium atoms by subexcitation electrons. This effect is not included in a standard Maxwellian model. An analytical formula of W values for gaseous mixtures was suggested to incorporate the effect of subexcitation electrons. The formula can be applied to analyze chemically complex systems.
