I thought this bit of history was interesting: [...] The article was written in 2013, when the last shipment arrived. I wonder how long this fuel continued to be used?
I thought this bit of history was interesting:
[I]n 1993 the deal was struck: The Russians would turn about 500 tons of bomb-grade uranium into nuclear fuel. The U.S. would buy it and sell it to commercial power plants here.
[...]
The Russians made around $17 billion. Sewell's government office was spun off into a private company — the United States Enrichment Corporation — and made money from the deal too. And the U.S. power plants got the uranium at a good price.
The article was written in 2013, when the last shipment arrived. I wonder how long this fuel continued to be used?
Not sure how accurate this article actually is, but assuming the weapons-grade stuff was brought back down to the U235 concentrations normal for reactor fuel, I bet at least some of that 500 tons...
Not sure how accurate this article actually is, but assuming the weapons-grade stuff was brought back down to the U235 concentrations normal for reactor fuel, I bet at least some of that 500 tons is still in reactors.
@nukeman is probably the best person to ask that of, since their username is quite literal. I even have them tagged with ☢️ using Tildes ReExtended User Labels feature. :P
The article was written in 2013, when the last shipment arrived. I wonder how long this fuel continued to be used?
@nukeman is probably the best person to ask that of, since their username is quite literal. I even have them tagged with ☢️ using Tildes ReExtended User Labels feature. :P
Heh, thanks for the tag mate. @skybrian, @sqew: While the HEU (~90%) is downblended to LEU (~3-5%), expanding the supply, over a few years, the fuel is poisoned by certain fission products during...
Heh, thanks for the tag mate.
@skybrian, @sqew: While the HEU (~90%) is downblended to LEU (~3-5%), expanding the supply, over a few years, the fuel is poisoned by certain fission products during normal operation. In a light water reactor, 1/4 to 1/3 of the fuel is changed out every 12-24 months. Assuming all Russian-origin fuel was initially loaded by 2014, by now it should all be in the spent fuel pools.
I thought this bit of history was interesting:
[...]
The article was written in 2013, when the last shipment arrived. I wonder how long this fuel continued to be used?
Not sure how accurate this article actually is, but assuming the weapons-grade stuff was brought back down to the U235 concentrations normal for reactor fuel, I bet at least some of that 500 tons is still in reactors.
@nukeman is probably the best person to ask that of, since their username is quite literal. I even have them tagged with ☢️ using Tildes ReExtended User Labels feature. :P
Heh, thanks for the tag mate.
@skybrian, @sqew: While the HEU (~90%) is downblended to LEU (~3-5%), expanding the supply, over a few years, the fuel is poisoned by certain fission products during normal operation. In a light water reactor, 1/4 to 1/3 of the fuel is changed out every 12-24 months. Assuming all Russian-origin fuel was initially loaded by 2014, by now it should all be in the spent fuel pools.