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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.
Yigal Ronen, Samuel Carmona
Nuclear Science and Engineering | Volume 74 | Number 2 | May 1980 | Pages 84-94
Technical Paper | doi.org/10.13182/NSE80-A19625
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
Water breeder reactors based on thermal water reactors have the advantages of a well-proven technology, a wide operational experience, and an acceptable safety status, the latter from using water as a coolant and having a negative void coefficient. Water breeder reactors are now in operation for the 232Th-233U cycle and are being designed for the 238U-Pu cycle. This paper proposes a water breeder system in which two reactors operate in symbiosis, one using 238U-233U as fuel and producing plutonium, and the other using 232Th-Pu as fuel and producing 233U. Thus, each reactor feeds the other. From the breeding point of view, the combined system has an advantage over the separate 238U-Pu and 233Th-233U cycles.