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Conference Spotlight
Nuclear Energy Conference & Expo (NECX)
September 8–11, 2025
Atlanta, GA|Atlanta Marriott Marquis
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U.S. nuclear supply chain: Ready for liftoff
Craig Piercycpiercy@ans.org
This month, September 8–11, the American Nuclear Society is teaming up with the Nuclear Energy Institute to host our first-ever Nuclear Energy Conference and Expo—NECX for short—in Atlanta. This new meeting combines ANS’s Utility Working Conference and NEI’s Nuclear Energy Assembly to form what NEI CEO Maria Korsnick and I hope will be the premier nuclear industry gathering in America.
We did this because after more than four decades of relative stagnation, the U.S. nuclear supply chain is finally entering a new era of dynamic growth. This resurgence is being driven by several powerful and increasingly durable forces: the explosive demand for electricity from artificial intelligence and data centers, an unprecedented wave of public and private acceptance of—and investment in—advanced nuclear technologies, and a strong market signal for reliable, on-demand power. Add the recent Trump administration executive orders on nuclear into the mix, and you have all the makings of an accelerant-rich business environment primed for rapid expansion.
Toshio Wakabayashi, Katsuro Takahashi, Tsutomu Yanagisawa
Nuclear Technology | Volume 118 | Number 1 | April 1997 | Pages 14-25
Technical Paper | Kiyose Birthday Anniversary Special / Nuclear Fuel Cycle | doi.org/10.13182/NT118-14
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
Systematic parameter studies were implemented to investigate the basic characteristics [plutonium and minor actinide (MA)-burning rate, burnup reactivity loss, Doppler coefficient, sodium void reactivity, maximum linear heat rate, etc.] of plutonium and MA-burning fast reactors and also to clarify the feasibility of such plutonium and MA burner fast reactors. Highly enriched mixed-oxide (MOX) fuels and plutonium fuels without uranium were consideredfor plutonium-burning enhancement. It was found that plutonium consumption rates essentially depend on plutonium enrichment. Both burnup reactivity loss and Doppler coefficient are important criteria for highly enriched MOX fuel cores. Cores without uranium were found to consume the plutonium at a very large burnup rate close to the theoretically maximum value of 110 to 120 kg/TW · h(electric). The introduction of UO2 in an internal blanket is effective in enhancing the Doppler coefficient; it causes a minor increase in the sodium void reactivity in nonuranium cores. The MA transmutation in a fast reactor core has no serious drawbacks in terms of core performance, provided that the homogeneous loading method can be employed with a small fraction of MA fuel (∼5 wt%). Fast reactors have a strong potential for burning plutonium and MA effectively.