Looking high and low for HALEU

September 2, 2019, 10:00AMNuclear NewsSusan Gallier
The interior of the process building at the American Centrifuge Plant in Piketon, Ohio, where Centrus Energy plans to operate a HALEU demonstration cascade by June 2022. (Photo: Centrus Energy)

Advanced reactor cores are being designed for higher efficiencies and longer lifetimes, but to get there, they need high-assay low-enriched uranium (HALEU).

Enriched to between 5 and 19.75 percent fissile U-235, HALEU is packed with nuclear potential. It can be used as a feedstock for the demonstration of new fuel designs, from uranium alloys to ceramic pellets and liquid fuels. Those fuels can enable advanced reactor and microreactor demonstrations. Operating light-water reactors could potentially transition to HALEU uranium oxide fuels for extended operating cycles and improved plant economics.

RNE24: Batteries will fix all our problems, right?? Craig Piercy guests!

August 26, 2019, 7:45PMANS Nuclear Cafe

Thank you for joining us on Episode 24 of RadioNuclear! In this episode, we briefly discuss the passage of H.B. 6 in Ohio, effectively saving the two nuclear plants in Ohio for the time being. This week we also talk about a recent article detailing the true cost of using battery storage for energy. How much could using them for 100% renewable energy cost? Tune in to find out!

Seven years later, we are still curious about Curiosity

August 5, 2019, 4:02PMANS Nuclear CafeVedant Mehta

On August 5, 2012, at 10:17 p.m. PDT, NASA's giant rover Curiosity landed on Mars, the fourth planet in our solar system from the Sun. Curiosity rover is 3 meters long, 2.8 meters wide, and 2.1 meters tall weighing 900 kilograms (around 2,000 lbs). Slowing the giant laboratory down from entry-level hypersonic speeds to near zero and safely landing it on Martian surface was immensely complicated. It required a rocket-powered crane to land the rover on the surface. Curiosity's primary goal was to determine if Martian soil and climate offered favorable conditions for life in past. The rover contains several instruments on board to understand the planet conditions better. These instruments include spectrometers for material characterization, radiation detectors, cameras for taking pictures (and selfies), and weather sensors.

Podcast: Do renewables & nuclear power need to work together?

July 24, 2019, 7:31PMANS Nuclear CafeDoug Hardtmayer

Ready for RadioNuclear 23? In this episode, we discuss the landmark achievement at Purdue's research reactor, PUR-1, on going to a fully digital I&C System, the increasing support for nuclear power from Japanese courts, and the recent increase in radioactivity from a sunken Soviet Union Submarine, the Komsomolets. We also give a brief update on pronuclear legislation in Ohio and discuss the relationship renewables and nuclear must play in the future.

Imagination is the Key to Everything!

July 18, 2019, 6:45AMANS Nuclear CafeDr. Catherine Riddle

Remember when you were a child on a long road trip to grandma's house before cars were equipped with televisions? My dad would tell us to imagine that we were watching an episode of Star Trek, and my sister and I would run through every nuance of the show in our minds. As the imaginary show ended, we were amazed to find ourselves in front of grandma's house.

ANS Nuclear Cafe Friday Matinee - July 12

July 12, 2019, 2:00PMANS Nuclear Cafe

Friday-Nuclear-Matinee

The nearness of the completion of Rosatom's Akademik Lomonosov floating two-unit nuclear power plant is apparently raising interest in, of all places, the Philippines.  This island nation, which very nearly had a nuclear plant but which halted its operation when fully completed, has at least one official body considering the use of Russian-style floating nuclear plants to offset what it feels is an impending severe shortage of natural gas fuel as a major field is expected to run out.

Nuclear Plant Construction Delay and Cost 8

July 4, 2019, 11:00AMANS Nuclear CafeWill Davis

We continue now our look at Appendix III of WASH-1250, the unpublished (except in final draft form) AEC study on reactor safety from 1973.  This appendix describes the rise of the anti-nuclear movement in the United States; the previous installment contains roughly the first half of this important historical record.  We now present the second part, word for word unaltered.

Nuclear Plant Construction Delay and Cost 7

July 1, 2019, 10:06PMANS Nuclear CafeWill Davis

We are quite aware today that a major force in delaying nuclear plant licensing has been the action of "intervenors" - persons, or more often groups pretending to act as concerned individuals, who attend open meetings, file motions, and start all sorts of legal proceedings intended to delay nuclear plants long enough that the owners decide to quit.  How did this all start?

RadioNuclear 22: HBO’s Chernobyl: A Setback or Opportunity?

June 27, 2019, 2:14PMANS Nuclear CafeDoug Hardtmayer

Episode 22 of RadioNuclear is now available. In this episode, we discuss the recent miniseries "Chernobyl", which recently concluded on HBO. We debunk some of the more egregious articles written in the wake of the show (see links to these articles below). We also discuss good ways to engage with individuals who are captivated with the show, and not necessarily familiar with nuclear technology.