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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.
R. M. Berman
Nuclear Science and Engineering | Volume 16 | Number 3 | July 1963 | Pages 315-328
Technical Paper | doi.org/10.13182/NSE63-A26534
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
Four irradiated UO2 samples were ground to break them along grain boundaries, then dissolved in a series of successive leaches with 3N HNO3. The successive acid extractions were then analyzed for Cs138, Ce144, Zr95, Sr90, and Eu155, as well as total uranium. Very considerable variation in the specific activities of the fission fragments was found between one acid extraction and another of the same sample. The fission products were concentrated in the first and last portions of the material to dissolve. In one sample, which underwent irradiation for a very short time, the increase in concentration in the last portion to dissolve was not observed. It is speculated, on this and other evidence, that fission fragments do not remain in solid solution in uranium dioxide, but instead migrate to grain boundaries and other lattice defect sites.