Join ECA as we consider these and other questions during our free webinar "Reprocessing and Recycling: The Outlook and Impact on New Nuclear Development" on Thursday, September 28, 2023, from 1:00 pm - 2:00 pm Eastern to learn more from experts Paul Murray and Josh Jarrell, Senior Technical Advisor to the U.S. Department of Energy's Advanced Nuclear Fuel Availability Program from the Idaho National Laboratories.

Please use this link to register. 

The Biden Administration has awarded funding for projects led by universities, private companies and natural laboratories to develop technologies to advance used nuclear fuel recycling, reduce the volume of high-level waste requiring permanent disposal, and provide safe domestic advanced reactor fuel stocks. Similarly, in Congress there is bipartisan support for exploring the potential for fuel recycling to establish a domestic industry to supply and enrich uranium, to increase our energy independence and reduce our reliance on Russia. But this is not the first time the U.S. has considered reprocessing and there have been multiple starts and stops for multiple reasons. How is the landscape different today? What is the potential for closing the fuel cycle in the U.S.? What would the impact be for advanced nuclear development? What is the timeline?

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U.S. aims to create nuclear fusion facility within 10 years, Energy chief says

The Associated Press | 09/26/2023

The Biden administration hopes to create a commercial nuclear fusion facility within 10 years as part of the nation’s transition to clean energy, U.S. Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm said Monday.

Calling nuclear fusion a pioneering technology, Granholm said President Joe Biden wants to harness fusion as a carbon-free energy source that can power homes and businesses.

“It’s not out of the realm of possibility” that the U.S. could achieve Biden’s “decadal vision of commercial fusion,” Granholm said in a wide-ranging interview with The Associated Press in Vienna.

Fusion works by pressing hydrogen atoms into each other with such force that they combine into helium, releasing enormous amounts of energy and heat. Unlike other nuclear reactions, it doesn’t create radioactive waste. Proponents of nuclear fusion hope it could one day displace fossil fuels and other traditional energy sources. But producing carbon-free energy that powers homes and businesses from fusion is still decades away.

A successful nuclear fusion was first achieved by researchers at the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory in California last December in a major breakthrough after decades of work.

Granholm also praised the role of the Vienna-based U.N. nuclear watchdog in verifying that states live up to their international commitments and do not use their nuclear programs for illicit purposes, including to build nuclear weapons.

“The IAEA is instrumental in making sure that nuclear is harnessed for good and that it does not fall into the hands of bad actors,” she said.

The watchdog organization has agreements with more than 170 states to inspect their nuclear programs. The aim is to verify their nuclear activities and nuclear material and to confirm that it is used for peaceful purposes, including to generate energy.

Nuclear energy is an essential component of the Biden administration’s goal of achieving a carbon pollution-free power sector by 2035 and net zero emissions economy by 2050.

Asked about the difficulty of finding storage sites for radioactive waste, Granholm said that the U.S. has initiated a process to identify communities across the country who may be willing to host an interim storage location. Currently, most of the spent fuel is stored at nuclear reactors across the country.

“We have identified 12 organizations that are going to be in discussion with communities across the country about whether they are interested (in hosting an interim site),” she said.

The U.S. currently does not recycle spent nuclear fuel but other countries, including France, already have experience with it.

Spent nuclear fuel can be recycled in such a way that new fuel is created. But critics of the process say it is not cost-effective and could lead to the proliferation of atomic weapons.

There are two proliferation concerns associated with recycling, according to the Washington-based Arms Control Association: The recycling process increases the risk that plutonium could be stolen by terrorists, and second, those countries with separated plutonium could produce nuclear weapons themselves.

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Grossi stresses positive role of nuclear at IAEA General Conference

World Nuclear News | 09/25/2023

Director General Rafael Mariano Grossi opened the 67th International Atomic Energy Agency General Conference by saying that opinion polls show the "tide is turning" on public attitudes to nuclear energy, but countries "still need to engage stakeholders openly and proactively" in their nuclear power programmes.

In his opening address to the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) event at its headquarters in Vienna, Austria, Grossi highlighted the positive progress of the organisation's initiatives using nuclear technology in areas of tackling climate change as well as cancer care, zoonotic disease, food safety and plastic pollution.

He said: "Our work in widening the access to life-affirming nuclear science and technology is happening against a background of seismic shifts in our climate. The horrifying consequences of global warming are becoming ever more apparent, from wildfires in North America, to heat domes, droughts and floods across Asia, Europe, Latin America, and Africa. Our climate emergency is undeniable, but so is our ability to do something about it.

"Four years ago, nuclear power was struggling to gain a place at the table in major global conversations and events on energy and climate change. Today, nuclear power not only has a place at the table but is increasingly recognised as part of the solution."

Speaking 70 years after the then US President Dwight D Eisenhower's Atoms for Peace speech to the United Nations which paved the way for the creation of the IAEA, he said that it continues to implement its safeguards and security work. He said that there was an "ever-learning mindset when it comes to building a culture of nuclear safety and security - nuclear energy is safer than it has ever been, safer than almost any other source of energy".

And he said: "In the past few years we have not been vocal enough about the benefits of nuclear power, but that page has been turned. Even as public opinion polls around the world show the tide turning in favour of nuclear energy, countries still need to engage stakeholders openly, and proactively, in their nuclear power programmes. Concerted effort and action are warranted."

Representatives of the IAEA's 177 Member States are attending the event, at which delegates will discuss a range of topics, from the 2024 budget to strengthening activities related to nuclear science, technology and applications, as well as the IAEA’s nuclear safety and security activities and strengthening the effectiveness and improving the efficiency of Agency safeguards. They will also specifically discuss nuclear safety, security and safeguards in Ukraine and safeguards in the Middle East and in North Korea. Thailand’s Ambassador and Permanent Representative to the United Nations, Vilawan Mangklatanakul, was elected as the president of the General Conference.

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Birthplace of the atomic bomb braces for its biggest mission since the top-secret Manhattan Project

The Associated Press | 09/23/2023

Los Alamos was the perfect spot for the U.S. government’s top-secret Manhattan Project.

Almost overnight, the ranching enclave on a remote plateau in northern New Mexico was transformed into a makeshift home for scientists, engineers and young soldiers racing to develop the world’s first atomic bomb. Dirt roads were hastily built and temporary housing came in the form of huts and tents as the outpost's population ballooned.

The community is facing growing pains again, 80 years later, as Los Alamos National Laboratory takes part in the nation's most ambitious nuclear weapons effort since World War II. The mission calls for modernizing the arsenal with droves of new workers producing plutonium cores — key components for nuclear weapons.

Some 3,300 workers have been hired in the last two years, with the workforce now topping more than 17,270. Close to half of them commute to work from elsewhere in northern New Mexico and from as far away as Albuquerque, helping to nearly double Los Alamos' population during the work week.

While advancements in technology have changed the way work is done at Los Alamos, some things remain the same for this company town. The secrecy and unwavering sense of duty that were woven into the community's fabric during the 1940s remain. 

James Owen, the associate lab director for weapons engineering, has spent more than 25 years working in the nuclear weapons program.

“What we do is meaningful. This isn’t a job, it’s a vocation and there’s a sense of contribution that comes with that," Owen said in an interview with The Associated Press following a rare tour of the facility where workers are preparing to piece together plutonium cores by hand. "The downside is we can’t tell people about all the cool things we do here.”

While the priority at Los Alamos is maintaining the nuclear stockpile, the lab also conducts a range of national security work and research in diverse fields of space exploration, supercomputing, renewable energy and efforts to limit global threats from disease and cyberattacks.

The welcome sign on the way into town reads: “Where discoveries are made.”

The headline grabber, though, is the production of plutonium cores.

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Check out ECA's latest report! 

DISPOSAL DRIVES CLEANUP: RE-ENERGIZING MOMENTUM FOR DISPOSAL SOLUTIONS FOR RADIOACTIVE WASTE

This report calls on the Department of Energy to launch the initiative to develop the actual waste disposition approaches. The Department could potentially save hundreds of billions of dollars in cleanup costs by using its available tools and implementing the report’s recommendations.

NEW MEDIA

Gone Fission Nuclear Report - EM Young Professionals

If you want job security and the feeling of doing something meaningful, the Department of Energy’s Environmental Management program is the place to be. That was the message of top government and industry leaders—and young professionals themselves—at the 2023 National Cleanup Workshop in Washington, DC. EM Senior Advisor Ike White says about half the federal EM workforce is eligible to retire now. And UCOR President and CEO Ken Rueter describes a novel program called Rising Senior Leaders that is preparing young professionals for executive positions. It’s all featured in this week’s episode of the Gone Fission Nuclear Report.