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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.
J. T. Thomas
Nuclear Science and Engineering | Volume 52 | Number 3 | November 1973 | Pages 350-359
Technical Paper | doi.org/10.13182/NSE73-A19482
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
Criticality studies were made of three-dimensional arrays of uranium-metal cylinders enriched to 93.2 wt% in 235U. Four weight groups of units, ranging from 10.4 to 26.2 kg of uranium in five geometries, were employed to determine the critical surface separation between units as a function of the number in an array. The influence on criticality of hydrogenous neutron reflecting and moderating materials, unit shape, array shape, and of other controlled perturbations to some assemblies was examined. Monte Carlo calculations were performed of the experimental assemblies to confirm the neutron multiplication factors and to interpret the behavior of several subcritical assemblies. The Hansen-Roach neutron cross-section sets reproduce the results of the experiments, in a majority of cases, to an accuracy of ≈1% in keff.