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2026 Annual Conference
May 31–June 3, 2026
Denver, CO|Sheraton Denver
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The two reactors at Dominion Energy’s Surry plant are among the oldest in the U.S. nuclear fleet. Yet when the plant celebrated its 50th anniversary in 2023, staff could raise a toast to the future. Surry was one of the first plants to file a subsequent license renewal (SLR) application, and in May 2021, it became official: the plant was licensed to operate for a full 80 years, extending its reactors’ lifespans into 2052 and 2053.
Charles G. Bathke, Bartley B. Ebbinghaus, Brian A. Collins, Brad W. Sleaford, Kevin R. Hase, Martin Robel, Richard K. Wallace, Keith S. Bradley, John R. Ireland, Gordon D. Jarvinen, M. W. Johnson, Andrew W. Prichard, Brian W. Smith
Nuclear Technology | Volume 179 | Number 1 | July 2012 | Pages 5-30
Technical Paper | Special Issue on Safeguards / Materials for Nuclear Systems | doi.org/10.13182/NT10-203
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
We must anticipate that the day is approaching when details of nuclear weapons design and fabrication will become common knowledge. On that day we must be particularly certain that all special nuclear materials (SNM) are adequately accounted for and protected and that we have a clear understanding of the utility of nuclear materials to potential adversaries. To this end, this paper examines the attractiveness of materials mixtures containing SNM and alternate nuclear materials associated with the plutonium-uranium reduction extraction (Purex), uranium extraction (UREX), coextraction (COEX), thorium extraction (THOREX), and PYROX (an electrochemical refining method) reprocessing schemes. This paper provides a set of figures of merit for evaluating material attractiveness that covers a broad range of proliferant state and subnational group capabilities. The primary conclusion of this paper is that all fissile material must be rigorously safeguarded to detect diversion by a state and must be provided the highest levels of physical protection to prevent theft by subnational groups; no "silver bullet" fuel cycle has been found that will permit the relaxation of current international safeguards or national physical security protection levels. The work reported herein has been performed at the request of the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) and is based on the calculation of "attractiveness levels" that are expressed in terms consistent with, but normally reserved for, the nuclear materials in DOE nuclear facilities. The methodology and findings are presented. Additionally, how these attractiveness levels relate to proliferation resistance and physical security is discussed.