Operability and Maintainability of the Barnwell Nuclear Fuel Plant: A Key Issue

Brooksbank, R.E.; Sandberg, R.O.

doi:10.13182/nt83-a33284

Cited by 3 publications

(3 citation statements)

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“…The reactor cannot achieve criticality with the control rods inserted into the core. An example is cadmium-bearing control rods in which 113 Cd (with its large capture cross section) absorbs thermal neutrons and transmutes to 114 Cd. However, capture cross section of cadmium drops precipitously in the fast neutron spectrum, meaning that cadmium is not an effective control mechanism in fast reactors.…”

Section: Materials Backgroundmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Nuclear Fuels and Reprocessing Technologies: A U.S. Perspective

Fredrickson

Yoo

2021

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Reprocessing and/or waste management issues are of concern to the "back end" of the nuclear fuel cycle. Of course, there are a great many "nuclear fuel cycle" scenarios to consider; if not in practice, then at least in theory. The simplest conceptually is the "once through" fuel cycle in which the spent fuel is discarded. The more complex fuel cycle scenarios involve reprocessing spent nuclear fuels and a family of nuclear reactor technologies to accommodate burning and breeding for various military and commercial needs. Therefore, the selection of a specific "fuel cycle" is what ultimately imposes the engineering requirements of the reprocessing and waste management technologies. No one part is independent of the other parts in a fuel cycle flowsheet; all parts should be fully integrated. This paper presents a summary of nuclear chemistry processes, nuclear reactor technologies, associated nuclear fuel types, and the reprocessing technologies that serve the different nuclear fuel types. Comprehending how this series of topics are related to each other is a prerequisite to understanding the requirements of any reprocessing strategy. The summary materials presented here are selective, as opposed to comprehensive. More detailed information on any one subject can be found in the reference materials.

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Section: Materials Backgroundmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Commercial Facilities 111•• Barnwell Nuclear Fuel Plant, Barnwell, South Carolina: Built by Allied General Nuclear Services between 1970 and 1975 but never operated with irradiated fuels. Reprocessing was based on PUREX with a nominal design capacity of 1500 MTHM per year 113,114.…”

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confidence: 99%

Nuclear Fuels and Reprocessing Technologies: A U.S. Perspective

Fredrickson

Yoo

2021

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“…This has resulted in, for example, the legally mandated cessation of nuclear generation in Germany during the time of the highest global fossil fuel and energy prices in recent years; these six mothballed reactors [94] could be brought back online with minimal cost and effort to provide >6 GWe of low-carbon power, which would provide ~10% of the nation's use at the time of writing. Similarly, reactors constructed but never commissioned in Austria [95] and the Philippines [96] could be brought online, and supporting infrastructure, such as the THORP (thermal oxide reprocessing plant) facility at Sellafield in the UK could have been kept operational rather than being prematurely decommissioned, or never operated in the first place [97].…”

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confidence: 99%

Navigating the Path of Least Resistance to Sustainable, Widespread Adoption of Nuclear Power

Holdsworth,

Ireland

2024

Sustainability

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With climate change rapidly accelerating, we must seriously reconsider our inconsistent and, at times, disjointed approach to energy grid decarbonisation by applying extant low-carbon technologies rapidly and at scale rather than continuing to rely on fossil fuel generation. In contrast to more transient renewables such as wind and solar energy, nuclear power is capable of reliably generating large quantities of baseload low-carbon energy. Despite this advantage, however, deployment has stagnated due to a combination of high costs, safety concerns, and an unwillingness of political authorities to commit to a large-scale, publicly funded program. The focus on private sector leadership in R&D has resulted in a smorgasbord of under-developed and conceptual reactor and fuel cycle technologies, many of which are a decade or more from commercial viability. Meanwhile, the aforementioned political issues have prevented the necessary long-term funding, incentivisation, or provision of the necessary market structures for the significant construction of actual generating plants. With this in mind, we present a potential path to a long-term sustainable approach to the nuclear fuel cycle, highlighting key reactor and fuel cycle technologies and providing an overview of how these should be implemented. Additionally, we discuss the industrial, political, and societal changes needed to achieve this through the comprehensive management of both waste and resources.

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Application of electrochemical methods to aqueous reprocessing of spent nuclear fuel

Kosyakov

Marchenko²

2008

Radiochemistry

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Operability and Maintainability of the Barnwell Nuclear Fuel Plant: A Key Issue

Cited by 3 publications

References 0 publications

Nuclear Fuels and Reprocessing Technologies: A U.S. Perspective

Nuclear Fuels and Reprocessing Technologies: A U.S. Perspective

Navigating the Path of Least Resistance to Sustainable, Widespread Adoption of Nuclear Power

Application of electrochemical methods to aqueous reprocessing of spent nuclear fuel

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