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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.
Ch. Hellwig, K. Bakker, T. Ozawa, M. Nakamura, F. Ingold, L. Å. Nordström, Y. Kihara
Nuclear Science and Engineering | Volume 153 | Number 3 | July 2006 | Pages 233-244
Technical Paper | doi.org/10.13182/NSE06-A2609
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
Particle fuels such as sphere-pac and vipac have been considered as promising fuel systems for fast reactors because of their inherent potential in remote operation, cost reduction, and incineration of minor actinides or low-decontaminated plutonium. The FUJI test addresses the questions of fabrication of mixed-oxide (MOX) particle fuels with high Pu content (20%) and its irradiation behavior during the start-up phase. Four kinds of fuel, i.e., MOX sphere-pac, MOX vipac, MOX pellet, and Np-MOX sphere-pac, have been and will be simultaneously irradiated under identical conditions in the High Flux Reactor in Petten, Netherlands. First results show that the particle fuel undergoes a substantial structure change already at the very beginning of the irradiation when the maximum power is reached. The changes in microstructure, i.e., the formation of a central void and the densification of fuel, decrease the fuel central temperature. Thus, the fast and strong restructuring helps to prevent central fuel melting at high power levels.