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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.
N. C. FRANCIS, H. HURWITZ, JR., P. F. ZWEIFEL
Nuclear Science and Engineering | Volume 2 | Number 3 | May 1957 | Pages 253-287
Technical Paper | doi.org/10.13182/NSE57-A25395
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
The calculation of critical parameters, neutron distributions, and adjoint functions for reflected reactors is discussed. A variational technique and a modification of the Wiener-Hopf method are described. The major application is made for the case of reactors moderated by hydrogen, in which case the slowing-down kernel must be introduced either as a numerical function or as a polynomial fit to such a function. For the case of the polynomial fit, explicit formulas for critical size, neutron distributions, and adjoint functions have been found by the Wiener-Hopf method. A comparison with experimental results for water-moderated reactors shows discrepancies consistent with the discrepancy known to exist between the measured and calculated neutron age in water.