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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.
L. Jutier, C. Riffard, A. Santamarina, E. Guillou, G. Grassi, D. Lecarpentier, F. Lauvaud, A. Coulaud, M. Hampartzounian, M. Tardy, S. Kitsos
Nuclear Science and Engineering | Volume 181 | Number 2 | October 2015 | Pages 105-136
Technical Paper | doi.org/10.13182/NSE14-51
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
Burnup credit for used fuel assemblies, in particular, pressurized water reactor uranium oxide, has been a major focus of research in France for more than 30 years. As a result, a wealth of knowledge and experience has been gained. The first implementation of burnup credit in France used the “50-leastirradiated- cm” method approved by the French safety authority in the early 1980s. However, because of the continuous increase in fuel enrichment, the industry is interested in reducing the conservatisms of this method by taking into consideration more realistic hypotheses, such as the introduction of fission products and a nonuniform axial burnup profile. To address this concern, a working group, bringing together several French nuclear companies and institutions [AREVA, CEA (Commissariat a` l’Energie Atomique et aux Energies Alternatives), EDF (Electricite´ de France), and IRSN (Institut de Radioprotection et de Suˆrete´ Nucle´aire)], was created in 1997. This paper presents the results of the working group’s discussions and studies on all the issues pertaining to the use of burnup credit. In addition, the practical experience of AREVA TN (a division of AREVA dealing with radioactive materials transport and storage throughout the entire nuclear fuel cycle) with transport casks, using input from these results, is described.