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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.
Ya-Ting Yang, Xiang Li, Cao-Fei Fu, Tong Song, Zhen-Qi Chang, Da-Qiao Meng, Christophe A. Serra
Nuclear Science and Engineering | Volume 181 | Number 2 | October 2015 | Pages 216-224
Technical Paper | doi.org/10.13182/NSE14-117
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
The transmutation concept of minor actinide (MA)–bearing nuclear fuel plays an important role in managing highly radioactive waste. A facile route combining the sol-gel process and microfluidic technology was presented to fabricate Ce/Eu oxide microspheres as a surrogate for plutonium-based MA-bearing nuclear fuel. Uniform Ce/Eu oxide microspheres with a varied Eu content (7.90%, 13.00%, and 17.56%) were successfully fabricated using the co-sol-gel method. The prepared microspheres had a narrow size distribution (coefficient of variance < 2%) and excellent sphericity (dmax/dmin < 1.09). The Ce and Eu elements were shown to have a relatively homogeneous distribution in the microspheres through energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy mapping images. Thermal behavior analysis, microstructure observation, and crystalline structure analysis were conducted systematically. The X-ray diffraction patterns showed one cubic lattice structure for all of the samples.