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Conference Spotlight
Nuclear Energy Conference & Expo (NECX)
September 8–11, 2025
Atlanta, GA|Atlanta Marriott Marquis
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New coolants, new fuels: A new generation of university reactors
Here’s an easy way to make aging U.S. power reactors look relatively youthful: Compare them (average age: 43) with the nation’s university research reactors. The 25 operating today have been licensed for an average of about 58 years.
George Emanuel*
Nuclear Technology | Volume 51 | Number 2 | December 1980 | Pages 238-243
Technical Paper | Argonne National Laboratory Specialists’ Workshop on Basic Research Needs for Nuclear Waste Management / Isotopes Separation | doi.org/10.13182/NT80-A32605
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
The performance of small isotope enrichment cascades that have large separation factors is examined. A quantity called the separative work gain is derived under the assumption of a small inlet assay. This concept simplifies the determination of optimum separation factors, and verifies the common practice of using the same values for these factors for each stage in a cascade. Simple relations are provided for a non-ideal, counter-current cascade of arbitrary size. They are utilized to determine a pricing strategy and to estimate a value for the U.S. stockpile of diffusion plant UF6 tailings. The value depends on the separation factors and cost of separative work, but may well be several billion dollars.