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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. A. Niebruegge, E. L. Tolman, C. W. Solbrig
Nuclear Science and Engineering | Volume 68 | Number 3 | December 1978 | Pages 363-368
Technical Note | doi.org/10.13182/NSE78-A27316
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
Thus far, existing computer programs have been adequate to predict the behavior of the loss-of-fluid test facility (LOFT) non-nuclear loss-of-coolant experiments. The work presented here describes a predictive capability for modeling nuclear experiments to determine if the same fuel can be used in several experiments. This is analogous to determining if fuel may be reused after a pressurized water reactor loss-of-coolant accident. We are concerned here with discussing only best-estimate calculations for experimental predictions and not the conservative models used for licensing. It was found that an adequate analysis procedure could be established by modeling accurately the fuel stored energy before the experiment is initiated. The initial stored energy in the fuel was found to be the most important fuel rod parameter influencing the maximum cladding temperature obtained in the transient.