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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.
William T. Sha, Alan E. Waltar
Nuclear Science and Engineering | Volume 44 | Number 2 | May 1971 | Pages 135-156
Technical Paper | doi.org/10.13182/NSE71-A19663
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
A two-dimensional (R - Z) integral model for characterizing fast reactor excursions from accident inception through core disassembly is presented. For predisassembly calculations, a Eulerian geometric model is used and multichannel heat-transfer computations are performed. Reactivity feedback due to Doppler broadening, coolant density change and voiding, and fuel movement are taken into account. A Lagrangian coordinate system is used in the disassembly phase, wherein the neutronics balance consists of Doppler broadening and material motion. A unique feature of the model is the ability to accommodate a pointwise Energy-Density-Dependent Equation-of-State according to the local sodium inventory that actually exists at the time of disassembly. By providing a consistent basis for establishing the effective reactivity ramp rate, Doppler coefficient, appropriate Equation-of-State, and temperature distribution at the start of core disassembly, much of the arbitrariness normally associated with large accident analyses can be removed. For most accident analyses, this model predicts a significantly lower energy yield during a superprompt critical nuclear excursion than would be computed by using the conventional modified Bethe-Tait analysis.