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Conference Spotlight
2025 ANS Winter Conference & Expo
November 9–12, 2025
Washington, DC|Washington Hilton
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The Standards Committee is responsible for the development and maintenance of voluntary consensus standards that address the design, analysis, and operation of components, systems, and facilities related to the application of nuclear science and technology. Find out What’s New, check out the Standards Store, or Get Involved today!
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The journey of the U.S. fuel cycle
Craig Piercycpiercy@ans.org
While most big journeys begin with a clear objective, they rarely start with an exact knowledge of the route. When commissioning the Lewis and Clark expedition in 1803, President Thomas Jefferson didn’t provide specific “turn right at the big mountain” directions to the Corps of Discovery. He gave goal-oriented instructions: explore the Missouri River, find its source, search for a transcontinental water route to the Pacific, and build scientific and cultural knowledge along the way.
Jefferson left it up to Lewis and Clark to turn his broad, geopolitically motivated guidance into gritty reality.
Similarly, U.S. nuclear policy has begun a journey toward closing the U.S. nuclear fuel cycle. There is a clear signal of support for recycling from the Trump administration, along with growing bipartisan excitement in Congress. Yet the precise path remains unclear.
Yoshitaka Chikazawa, Toshio Nakagiri, Mamoru Konomura, Shouji Uchida, Yoshihiko Tsuchiyama
Nuclear Technology | Volume 155 | Number 3 | September 2006 | Pages 340-349
Technical Paper | Thermal Hydraulics | doi.org/10.13182/NT06-A3766
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
Hydrogen production with a fast breeder reactor (FBR) may be attractive as a long-term energy source with nuclear fuel breeding. The thermochemical and electrolytic hybrid process is one of the hydrogen production methods using a sulfuric acid cycle with the maximum temperature at 500°C, which can be supplied by a sodium-cooled FBR. In this study, a hydrogen production plant with the thermochemical and electrolytic hybrid process has been designed, and the hydrogen production efficiency has been evaluated. The structural materials of the components in the system are steels such as high-Si cast iron, which has good toughness against sulfuric acid. High hydrogen production efficiency of 44% (high heating value) is achieved assuming development of high-efficiency electrolysis.
