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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.
Tsung-Kuang Yeh, Mei-Ya Wang
Nuclear Science and Engineering | Volume 161 | Number 2 | February 2009 | Pages 235-244
Technical Paper | doi.org/10.13182/NSE161-235
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
It is currently a common practice that a boiling water reactor (BWR) adopts hydrogen water chemistry (HWC) for mitigating corrosion in structural components in its primary coolant circuit (PCC). The optimal feedwater hydrogen concentration ([H2]FW) varies from plant to plant and is usually set at a constant value. When the core flow rate (CFR) in a BWR is changed, the coolant residence time in the PCC would be different. The concentrations of major redox species (i.e., hydrogen, oxygen, and hydrogen peroxide) in the coolant may accordingly vary because of different radiolysis durations in the core and other near-core regions. A theoretical code by the name of DEMACE was used in the current study to investigate the impact of various CFRs (from 100 to 80.6%) on the effectiveness of HWC in a domestic BWR. Our analyses indicated that the HWC effectiveness could be downgraded because of an increase in CFR at locations such as upper downcomer, recirculation system, and lower plenum. However, the HWC efficiency at the upper plenum area did not vary with either increasing or decreasing CFRs. The impact of CFR on the HWC effectiveness is therefore expected to vary from location to location in a BWR and eventually from plant to plant.