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Conference Spotlight
Nuclear Energy Conference & Expo (NECX)
September 8–11, 2025
Atlanta, GA|Atlanta Marriott Marquis
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Latest News
Spent fuel transfer project completed at INL
Work crews at Idaho National Laboratory have transferred 40 spent nuclear fuel canisters into long-term storage vaults, the Department of Energy’s Office of Environmental Management has reported.
Eugene A. Eschbach
Nuclear Technology | Volume 41 | Number 2 | December 1978 | Pages 168-179
Technical Paper | Extraction of Energy From Nuclear Fuels Without Reprocessing to Separate Plutonium / Fuel Cycle | doi.org/10.13182/NT78-A32102
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
A review of the plutonium fuel recycle program (1955–1967) did not reveal an economically compelling alternative fuel cycle to slightly enriched uranium, plutonium recycle, or the plutonium breeder. The review included systems involving no chemical separations compared with slightly enriched uranium once through. Nor did freestanding thorium systems appear economic, although synergisms between uranium and thorium may be worth considering, including reduced-density thorium fuels with high fuel durability as an alternative to uranium load following and peaking fuel. The crossed progeny system involving 233U enrichment of uranium in light water reactors (LWRs) and conversion of the plutonium to 233U in fast reactors may offer a method of providing a high-performance denatured LWR fuel for the period beyond the availability of economic slightly enriched uranium.