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2025 ANS Winter Conference & Expo
November 9–12, 2025
Washington, DC|Washington Hilton
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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.
Gordon Kohse, David Carpenter, Yi Yuan, Pavel Hejzlar, Mujid Kazimi
Nuclear Technology | Volume 160 | Number 1 | October 2007 | Pages 150-168
Technical Paper | Annular Fuel | doi.org/10.13182/NT07-A3889
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
This paper describes an irradiation test of high-power-density internally and externally cooled annular fuel samples in the 5-MW Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) research reactor MITR-II. The design of the irradiation facility is briefly reviewed, with an emphasis on the thermal-hydraulic behavior of the irradiation capsules. The irradiation test is described, including the thermal history of the two irradiated samples. A discussion of the observed asymmetrical temperature profiles is provided. Results of preliminary postirradiation examination consisting of collimated gamma scans of the irradiation capsules to confirm burnup estimates and estimate fission gas release (FGR) are also presented. It is concluded that the vibropacked fuel samples' FGR is below 1%, and that is within the predictable range by a specially equipped FRAPCON model.
