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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.
Nicolas Devictor, Yoshitaka Chikazawa, Manuel Saez, Gilles Rodriguez, Hiroki Hayafune
Nuclear Technology | Volume 182 | Number 2 | May 2013 | Pages 170-186
Regular Technical Paper | Special Issue on the Symposium on Radiation Effects in Ceramic Oxide and Novel LWR Fuels / Fission Reactors | doi.org/10.13182/NT13-A16429
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
The Commissariat à L'Énergie Atomique et aux Énergies Alternatives (CEA) and the Japan Atomic Energy Agency (JAEA) intend to develop prototype or demonstration sodium-cooled fast reactors (SFRs) within two decades. The common final goal of their respective programs is SFR commercialization. The target of a commercial SFR for CEA and JAEA is basically consistent with Generation IV goals. Based on their industrial backgrounds and feedback from past and existing reactor experiences, CEA and JAEA have selected pool and loop configurations for the Advanced Sodium Technological Reactor for Industrial Demonstration (ASTRID) and the Japanese Sodium-Cooled Fast Reactor (JSFR), respectively. CEA and JAEA have cross-analyzed both pool and loop concepts (ASTRID and demonstration JSFR, respectively). The analysis results show that both concepts are technologically feasible and meet design goals. From the viewpoint of collaboration, the analysis identifies a wide range of collaborative areas in several fields: design principles (e.g., design target and design standard); development of components and systems; development of component parts, devices, or subsystems; design methods; simulation tools; etc.