ANS is committed to advancing, fostering, and promoting the development and application of nuclear sciences and technologies to benefit society.
Explore the many uses for nuclear science and its impact on energy, the environment, healthcare, food, and more.
Explore membership for yourself or for your organization.
Conference Spotlight
2026 Nuclear Energy Conference & Expo (NECX)
August 24–27, 2026
Dallas, TX|Hilton Anatole
Latest Magazine Issues
Aug 2026
Jan 2026
2026
Latest Journal Issues
Nuclear Science and Engineering
October 2026
Nuclear Technology
September 2026
Fusion Science and Technology
August 2026
Latest News
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.
H. W. Lewis
Nuclear Science and Engineering | Volume 98 | Number 1 | January 1988 | Pages 79-81
Technical Paper | doi.org/10.13182/NSE88-A23527
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
A Bayesian analysis is made of the probability of core melt (defined as “core on the floor”) for U.S. reactors, using methods that are an extension of those used in an earlier work, and that can therefore be used to answer different questions. The essential new point is that at any time the estimate of the probability of core melt varies continuously as melt-free experience accumulates, with a substantial effect on the estimates. The most interesting result is that the probability of no-melt-yet stays large somewhat longer than one might have guessed, largely because melt-free experience feeds on itself in reducing the probability of subsequent core melt, and this process continues until the first melt.