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The busyness of the nuclear fuel supply chain
Ken Petersenpresident@ans.org
With all that is happening in the industry these days, the nuclear fuel supply chain is still a hot topic. The Russian assault in Ukraine continues to upend the “where” and “how” of attaining nuclear fuel—and it has also motivated U.S. legislators to act.
Two years into the Russian war with Ukraine, things are different. The Inflation Reduction Act was passed in 2022, authorizing $700 million in funding to support production of high-assay low-enriched uranium in the United States. Meanwhile, the Department of Energy this January issued a $500 million request for proposals to stimulate new HALEU production. The Emergency National Security Supplemental Appropriations Act of 2024 includes $2.7 billion in funding for new uranium enrichment production. This funding was diverted from the Civil Nuclear Credits program and will only be released if there is a ban on importing Russian uranium into the United States—which could happen by the time this column is published, as legislation that bans Russian uranium has passed the House as of this writing and is headed for the Senate. Also being considered is legislation that would sanction Russian uranium. Alternatively, the Biden-Harris administration may choose to ban Russian uranium without legislation in order to obtain access to the $2.7 billion in funding.
Francisco I. Valentín, Gregory Daines
Nuclear Technology | Volume 207 | Number 6 | June 2021 | Pages 801-814
Technical Paper | doi.org/10.1080/00295450.2020.1826271
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
Creare is developing a miniature, low-power, free-piston energy conversion system. Our converter is designed to transform thermal energy from radioisotope heater units into on-demand electricity essential to space exploration probes, unmanned surface rovers, small landers, small satellites, and similar small-scale systems operating in darkness. We have achieved a simple system design with a single moving part that requires no recuperator and no regenerators or valves. Our converter technology promises a high-efficiency system in an extremely compact enclosure. This work describes preliminary design, analysis, and testing efforts for our miniaturized converter. We fabricated a laboratory-scale prototype and acquired experimental data at prototypical temperatures to validate our performance models. Our numerical model was able to accurately predict converter losses. In doing so, we also demonstrated the feasibility of our novel thermodynamic cycle through the generation of net positive pressure-volume work of the system at its design temperature (~873 K). These results have been used to guide subsequent converter design modifications. Future work includes the fabrication, testing, and detailed performance assessment of a complete prototype converter.