Preparing for Tomorrow’s Energy Demands
Powerful imperatives drive the continued need for nuclear power, among them escalating energy demands, global warming, and rising volatility in the fossil fuel supply. As the only large-scale source of nearly greenhouse gas-free energy, nuclear power is an essential part of our energy mix, generating about 20 percent of our nation’s electricity and almost 70 percent of the clean energy.
Facing Challenges
Despite its prominent role, nuclear energy’s use presents challenges, such as mounting stockpiles of used nuclear fuel (UNF) and high-level waste (HLW) and a potential for proliferation. The March 2011 events at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant underscored the urgency behind enhancing accident tolerance of the existing reactor fleet. The United States must address these challenges in order to meet our goals for energy, environmental and economic security. In response, the U.S. Department of Energy, Office of Nuclear Energy (DOE- NE) established the Fuel Cycle Technologies (FCT) program.
Finding Solutions
Long-term resolution of these challenges entails developing sustainable systems that reduce waste while improving resource utilization and safety. To identify potential solutions, the FCT program adopted a results-oriented, science-based approach towards research and development (R&D) that takes advantage of advances in high-performance computing to integrate theory and experiment with modeling and simulation.
In addition, FCT is forging and strengthening collaborations with experts both within and outside the traditional nuclear arena to develop tomorrow’s nuclear fuel cycle. Embracing the astonishing advances in other scientific fields, such as nanoscience, unleashes the potential for transformational breakthroughs. Universities provide a wellspring of innovative ideas, while the national laboratories and their international counterparts provide considerable expertise, as well as access to critical R&D facilities. Finally, industry is a necessary partner, as the most revolutionary ideas are moot if they cannot be put into commercial practice.
Organizing Research and Development
To achieve its goals and objectives and to provide policymakers the tools to make informed decisions, the FCT program has established five R&D campaigns:
- Fuel Cycle Options is developing systematic, transparent, and objective processes to screen and evaluate a wide variety of proposed fuel cycles to identify potential solutions.
- Advanced Fuels supports both exiting and next- generation reactors by developing accident-tolerant light water reactor fuel and advanced proliferation-resistant fuels for sustainable fuel cycles.
- Separations and Waste Forms is developing innovative processes to recover uranium and other materials from UNF while improving proliferation resistance, reducing losses, and minimizing waste. This campaign also seeks transformational breakthroughs in waste forms suitable for geologic repository environments.
- Used Fuel Disposition is building the scientific foundation and technology for long-term interim storage, transportation, and permanent disposal of UNF and HLW.
- Material Protection, Control, and Accountability Technologies supports security and safeguards by developing tools and techniques to prevent the misuse of nuclear material.
Establishing Objectives
Sustainable fuel cycles improve uranium utilization and maximize energy generation while minimizing waste, improving safety, and limiting proliferation risk. Figure adapted from ANL diagram: Closing the Nuclear Fuel Cycle
The FCT program mission is multi-faceted, tackling current issues with the nation’s UNF inventory and maximizing performance and safety of the existing nuclear fleet, while also developing advanced systems for the future that will ensure nuclear energy’s continued role as a clean and sustainable energy source.