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2026 Nuclear Energy Conference & Expo (NECX)
August 24–27, 2026
Dallas, TX|Hilton Anatole
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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.
D. Mars, J. N. Inglima, and R. T. Schomer
Nuclear Science and Engineering | Volume 2 | Number 5 | September 1957 | Pages 582-601
Technical Paper | doi.org/10.13182/NSE57-A25426
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
A study group comprising personnel from seventeen industrial organizations and working at Brookhaven National Laboratory has evaluated the Liquid Metal Fuel Reactor (LMFR) concept, and has prepared a preliminary design of a large central station power plant feasible for construction in the near future. This paper presents the important characteristics of that design, together with discussions of the economics and of the remaining research and development work required. The plant utilizes a 550 Mw reactor with a circulating fuel solution of U233 dissolved in bismuth and a breeder fluid of thorium bismuthide dispersed in bismuth. Two-thousand (2000) psig, 975°F steam is delivered to a turbo-generator plant, producing 226,000 kw of net electrical power. Power costs, based on both single plants and multiple units utilizing common chemical processing facilities, range from 6.5 to 8.5 mils/kw-hr.