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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.
Meir Segev, A. Galperin
Nuclear Science and Engineering | Volume 125 | Number 1 | January 1997 | Pages 84-92
Technical Paper | doi.org/10.13182/NSE97-A24256
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
Interest in generating energy with thorium fuel has increased lately as a result of the activation of subcritical ThO2 lattices by accelerated protons. A tight, ThO2 water-cooled lattice has been proposed to generate 200 MW(thermal) with 1.5-GeV protons in a current of ∼ 7mA. A tight-latticed core, consisting of a ThO2/233UO2 seed embedded in a large ThO2 blanket, has been proposed to generate 2400 MW(thermal) with 1.0-GeV protons in a current of 20 mA. A consistent detailed analysis of these two energy amplifiers, carried out with the HERMES, MCNP, KORIGEN, WIMS, and BOXER codes, results in performances inferior to those claimed. The net power generated will be one-fourth of that claimed for the former and 1/2.5 of that claimed for the latter.
