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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.
Firooz Rufeh, Donald R. Olander and Thomas H. Pigford
Nuclear Science and Engineering | Volume 23 | Number 4 | December 1965 | Pages 335-338
Technical Paper | doi.org/10.13182/NSE65-A21069
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
A high-pressure furnace that operates up to 2000°C in the pressure range of 100 atm to 10−5 torr was designed and constructed to saturate UO2 powder of 4-µm average particle size with 4He. The powder was then dissolved in a fused salt in an induction chamber. The released 4He was mixed with a known quantity of 3He, and the mixture was analyzed with a mass spectrometer to determine the 4He: 3He ratio, hence the original mass of 4He in the sample. The solubility of He in UO2 at 1200 and 1300°C was found to be 6.71 × 10−4 and 3.23 × 10−4 cm3 (STP)/(g atm), respectively. It was also found that the He-UO2 system obeys Henry's law. From a plot of He concentration as a function of time, the diffusion coefficient at 1200 °C was estimated to be 1.5 × 10−13 cm2/sec.