Framatome to design fuel for EDF using reprocessed uranium

French reactor firm Framatome has entered a deal to design, manufacture and supply fuel assemblies made from enriched reprocessed uranium (ERU) to utility firm EDF between 2023 and 2032. Framatome has noted that the collaboration is subject to administrative and regulatory authorisations.  The reactor firm is to fabricate the fuel assemblies at its facility in …

20 years later: DOE’s Savannah River Site begins dissolving ORNL fuel again

The Department of Energy’s Savannah River Site has begun dissolving uranium fuel cores from Oak Ridge National Laboratory’s High Flux Isotope Reactor for the first time since 1988. The spent fuel will help deliver electricity to residents in the Tennessee Valley. The High Flux Isotope Reactor is fueled by highly enriched uranium, which the Savannah …

So Close Yet So Far: China Deal Elusive for France’s Areva

SHANGHAI/PARIS (Reuters) – A deal long sought by French company Areva to build a $12-billion nuclear waste reprocessing plant in China looks increasingly unlikely to go ahead despite a visit to Beijing by President Emmanuel Macron meant to drum up business. During Macron’s state visit this week, Areva and China National Nuclear Corp (CNNC) signed …

Japan’s MOX program faces tough questions as recycling costs balloon for spent atomic fuel

The cost of recycling spent nuclear fuel has surged since Japan began using it in 1999, raising questions about the viability of the reprocessing strategy, it has been learned. Japan is the only non-nuclear weapons state in the world that still engaged in a commercial spent-fuel reprocessing program. While it struggles to keep its nuclear …

Project to reprocess spent nuclear fuel being reexamined

Opponents claim that pyro-processing and SFR technology are on the decline and have numerous economic and safety limitations A pyro-processing and sodium-cooled fast reactor (SFR) research and development project that was created by the South Korean atomic energy community for the reprocessing of spent nuclear fuel is being reexamined.The Ministry of Science and ICT (MSIP) …

Uranium Underfeeding: Big Price Factor? (Part 1)

EXCLUSIVE TO SOURCELINE U3O8 – Since 2007, U3O8 prices have largely been moving in one direction – down. With long-term and spot prices languishing at 12-year lows, the uranium sector has been struggling over the past few years. Many analysts will cite uranium underfeeding and the subsequent sale of additional enriched uranium on the spot …

MOX funding still mixed in Washington

As the federal budget process plods along, MOX continues to receive mixed signals from lawmakers. Also known as the Mixed Oxide Fuel Fabrication Facility, the MOX project continues to make progress, its exterior facade largely completed. Unofficial estimates place facility completion between 70 and 75 percent. Mixed Oxide is becoming a mixed bag, however, with …