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Nuclear Energy Conference & Expo (NECX)
September 8–11, 2025
Atlanta, GA|Atlanta Marriott Marquis
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ANS joins others in seeking to discuss SNF/HLW impasse
The American Nuclear Society joined seven other organizations to send a letter to Energy Secretary Christopher Wright on July 8, asking to meet with him to discuss “the restoration of a highly functioning program to meet DOE’s legal responsibility to manage and dispose of the nation’s commercial and legacy defense spent nuclear fuel (SNF) and high-level radioactive waste (HLW).”
Sukesh K. Aghara, Carl A. Beard
Nuclear Technology | Volume 137 | Number 1 | January 2002 | Pages 1-9
Technical Paper | Fuel Cycle and Management | doi.org/10.13182/NT02-A3253
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
A feasibility study of a proliferation-resistant fuel form for commercial power reactors was conducted. An increase in 238Pu is known to increase the heat load in pure plutonium metal. At high 238Pu concentrations in spent fuel, the heat load in the plutonium may be sufficiently high that it will be less desirable for weapons production. An actinide-based fuel is proposed that will increase the ratio of 238Pu/239Pu in spent fuel, leading to a fuel form resistant to diversion for weapons use. Two actinides were considered, 237Np and 241Am, for seeding in low-enriched (3% 235U) uranium oxide fuel. The ORIGEN point depletion code was utilized to calculate time-dependent spent-fuel concentrations of 238Pu, 239Pu, 237Np, 241Am, and other nuclides of interest. The preliminary results show that both 237Np and 241Am in small quantities generate significant 238Pu in spent fuel, and more importantly, both actinide-based fuels shift the 238Pu/239Pu ratio significantly higher at relatively small initial concentrations. Based on a closed-loop actinide-fuel life cycle study, a 237Np-based fuel cycle seems much more sustainable as compared to 241Am. However, 241Am addition to 237Np-based fuel may have benefits in reducing the end-of-cycle deficit of 237Np.