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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.
H. B. Choi, T. J. Downar
Nuclear Science and Engineering | Volume 111 | Number 2 | June 1992 | Pages 205-213
Technical Note | doi.org/10.13182/NSE92-A23934
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
Depletion perturbation theory has been extended to the closed nuclear fuel cycle, and methods have been developed for computing the constrained sensitivities that account for fuel reprocessing and fabrication. An iterative method was developed to solve the sensitivity equations and applied to the closed fuel cycle of the Integral Fast Reactor (IFR). The sensitivities computed using the method were in good agreement with sensitivities from direct subtraction of perturbed and unperturbed depletion calculations. The closed fuel cycle sensitivities were also compared with the sensitivities for the open fuel cycle without reprocessing. The closed fuel cycle sensitivities were found to be larger, particularly for isotopes higher up the burnup chain. These results indicate this work would have particular importance for the analysis of advanced reactor designs with closed fuel cycles, such as the IFR. The methods developed here will facilitate accurate and efficient sensitivity studies of such reactors.