Nuclear News on the Newswire

NRC moves ahead on HALEU enrichment, rulemaking, and guidance

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission is requesting comments on the regulatory basis for a proposed rule for light water reactor fuel designs featuring high-assay low-enriched uranium (HALEU), including accident tolerant fuel (ATF) designs, and on draft guidance for the environmental evaluation of ATFs containing uranium enriched up to 8 percent U-235. Some of the HALEU feedstock for those LWR fuels and for advanced reactor fuels could be produced within the first Category II fuel facility licensed by the NRC—Centrus Energy’s American Centrifuge Plant in Piketon, Ohio. On September 21, the NRC approved the start of enrichment operations in the plant’s modest 16-machine HALEU demonstration cascade.

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NN Asks: What inspired you to work in the nuclear fuel cycle?

Jessica Woynerowski

As a student, I had the opportunity to tour Urenco USA in Eunice, N.M.—the only commercially operated uranium enrichment facility in the United States. Seeing a fuel cycle facility for the first time and learning about the centrifugal technology used to separate U-235 from U-238 was enriching (pun intended). In the nuclear utility sector, where I am currently working as a core design engineer, the focus is on creating safe, reliable, carbon-free nuclear energy; too often, however, we miss out on other key players in the nuclear fuel cycle.

As a visiting student, I listened to the introductions, the tour guides, the operators, and the engineers at Urenco, and I was hooked. It was so different from what I learned in college about commercial reactors. I was so fascinated with how Urenco operated and their role in the nuclear industry that I started my career there in 2016. The company did an incredible job educating their personnel not only on their processes but also on the work of other fuel cycle facilities (mining, conversion, and fabrication, to name a few).

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50 minerals critical to our society

Last year, the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) released its 2022 list of 50 minerals that are essential to the function of our society, especially the economy and national security. Whether it’s indium for LCD screens and aircraft wind shielding, cobalt for iPhones, uranium for nuclear reactors and munitions, rare earth elements for wind turbine magnets, lithium for rechargeable batteries, or tantalum for electronic components, if we do not have an ample supply, bad things will happen.

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Environmental regulator gives nod to plans for first Polish nuclear plant

Poland’s General Directorate for Environmental Protection (GDOŚ) has given its imprimatur to the Central European nation’s plan to build and operate its first nuclear power facility, state-owned utility Polskie Elektrownie Jądrowe announced last Friday.

PEJ, which submitted its environmental impact report for the proposed project to GDOŚ in March 2022, called the decision “a key permit obtained in the investment process, because subsequent administrative approvals, including the decision to determine the location of the investment and the building permit, must comply with the arrangements and conditions contained in the decision on environmental conditions.”

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Alberta funds SMR study

Canada’s Alberta province is investing C$7 million (about $5.2 million) to help Cenovus Energy study how small modular reactors could be used in northern Alberta to decarbonize oil sands production and what additional information might be needed to pursue their regulatory approval.

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Atoms: Get more from your fuel

From the pages of the September 2023 issue of Nuclear News.

For decades, more energy has meant more fuel: fossil fuels.

But nuclear fuel—unlike coal, oil, or even natural uranium—is a feat of engineering, not a commodity extracted from the earth. Now, “more” means more engineering—to boost uranium density or to close the fuel cycle.

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LANL panel talks Oppenheimer, history vs. Hollywood, in ANS webinar

For those who enjoyed the Christopher Nolan–directed blockbuster feature Oppenheimer, which premiered this July in theaters, the American Nuclear Society hosted a special webinar that gave attendees a glimpse into the development of the film. “Oppenheimer: Behind the Scenes with Los Alamos National Laboratory” featured representatives from Los Alamos National Laboratory who discussed the lab’s involvement in the film and what they think the film got right or wrong.

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NNSA welcomes opening of Kazakhstan storage facility

The Department of Energy’s National Nuclear Security Administration recently marked the completion of a new long-term radioactive waste storage facility in Kazakhstan.

The facility, at Kazakhstan’s Institute of Nuclear Physics (INP), has been operational since 2022 and has an expected lifespan of 50 years. According to the NNSA, the facility conforms with all Kazakhstan and International Atomic Energy Agency guidelines and replaces a much older facility located at an INP property in Turaz.

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