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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.
R. C. Lloyd, R. A. Libby, E. D. Clayton
Nuclear Science and Engineering | Volume 82 | Number 3 | December 1982 | Pages 325-331
Technical Paper | doi.org/10.13182/NSE82-A19393
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
Experiments were performed with a 122-cm-diam sphere to determine criticality of aqueous solutions of plutonium in a system having low-neutron leakage. The plutonium in the chemical form of Pu(NO3)4 had a 240Pu content of 2.52 wt%. The critical-sphere concentration obtained in this experiment was analyzed along with data from eight additional critical experiments to evaluate the minimum critical concentration for plutonium. The limiting critical concentration was determined to be 7.62 g Pu/ℓ, for Pu(NO3)4 without excess acid and 7.59 g Pu/ℓ for a 239Pu-water mixture. From these data, the Maxwellian-averaged thermal value of the number of fission neutrons emitted per neutron absorbed by 239Pu, eta, was determined to be 2.056 ± 0.037. The value at 2200 m/s is 2.100 ±0.041.