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Conference Spotlight
2025 ANS Winter Conference & Expo
November 8–12, 2025
Washington, DC|Washington Hilton
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The Standards Committee is responsible for the development and maintenance of voluntary consensus standards that address the design, analysis, and operation of components, systems, and facilities related to the application of nuclear science and technology. Find out What’s New, check out the Standards Store, or Get Involved today!
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Latest News
Japan gets new U for enrichment as global power and fuel plans grow
President Trump is in Japan today, with a visit with new Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi on the agenda. Takaichi, who took office just last week as Japan’s first female prime minister, has already spoken in favor of nuclear energy and of accelerating the restart of Japan’s long-shuttered power reactors, as Reuters and others have reported. Much of the uranium to power those reactors will be enriched at Japan’s lone enrichment facility—part of Japan Nuclear Fuel Ltd.’s Rokkasho fuel complex—which accepted its first delivery of fresh uranium hexafluoride (UF₆) in 11 years earlier this month.
V. G. Tkice, Jr., N. R. Chellew
Nuclear Science and Engineering | Volume 9 | Number 1 | January 1961 | Pages 55-58
Technical Paper | doi.org/10.13182/NSE61-A25865
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
The behavior of plutonium in melt refining of plutonium-bearing uranium alloys was studied as functions of the initial plutonium concentration in the charge, the time and temperature of refining, and the carbon impurity added to the charge. Under all conditions studied, the percentage recovery of plutonium in the purified metal was slightly lower than that of uranium. The concentration of plutonium in uranium-20 weight per cent plutonium-10 weight per cent fissium alloy (EBR-II type fuel) melt refined for three hours at 1300 or 1400°C was 0.31 ± 0.23% lower than the plutonium concentration in metal charged to the process.
