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60 Years of U: Perspectives on resources, demand, and the evolving role of nuclear energy
Recent years have seen growing global interest in nuclear energy and rising confidence in the sector. For the first time since the early 2000s, there is renewed optimism about the industry’s future. This change is driven by several major factors: geopolitical developments that highlight the need for secure energy supplies, a stronger focus on resilient energy systems, national commitments to decarbonization, and rising demand for clean and reliable electricity.
Keith E. Asmussen, Paul Wälti
Nuclear Technology | Volume 15 | Number 3 | September 1972 | Pages 359-365
Technical Paper | Reactor | doi.org/10.13182/NT72-A16033
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
The plutonium loadings were determined for a test element for irradiation in the Peach Bottom HTGR. The test element is a graphite circular cylinder with an array of eight fuel rods in a circular pattern. The fuel rods contain dense spherical kernels of PuO2 or PuO2/3 ThO2. Be cause of the strong Pu resonances, the heterogeneity effects in the test element are strongly marked. A code for treating this rather complicated problem rigorously was not available. Thus the problem was simulated within a onedimensional transport code by equating three collision probabilities. The heterogeneities were seen to result in significant grain selfshielding, rod selfshielding, and mutual shielding of the rods. The Pu loading for the central fuel body of the test element was determined to be 19.0 g.