- Nuclear Fuel Cycle, Per F. Peterson, General Methodologies for Geologic Disposal in North America. This power-point presentation provides an overview of the technological issues of the nuclear fuel cycle and the implications for disposal of spent nuclear fuel.
- Multilateral Approaches to the Nuclear Fuel Cycle: Expert Group Report submitted to the Director General of the International Atomic Energy Agency. 22 February 2005. The report of an expert group appointed my Mohammed El Baradei to look at multilateral approaches for securing the nuclear fuel cycle against proliferation concerns.
- Ensuring Security of Supply in the International Nuclear Fuel Cycle, World Nuclear Association Report, 12 May 2006. This report is the nuclear industry’s response to the Expert Group on Multilateral Approaches for the Nuclear Fuel Cycle established by the IAEA. The report argues that existing IAEA and Eurotom safeguards and commercial arrangements are robust for assuring nuclear supply, and that emergency measures should only be implemented in case of major political disruptions.
Nuclear Fuel Supply
- Issues in the Use of Weapons-Grade. MOX Fuel in VVER-1000 Nuclear. Reactors: Comparison of UO. 2. and MOX. Fuels. Oak Ridge National Laboratories, October 2004. The purposes of this report is to quantify the differences between mixed-oxide (MOX) and low-enriched uranium (LEU) fuel and to assess the potential impact of the use of MOX in Russian VVER reactors. This was undertaken as part of the Nunn-Lugar program for decommissioning Soviet-era nuclear weapons.
- The Global Nuclear Fuel Market – Supply and Demand. 2005-2030, World Nuclear Association, 2005. This report projects future supply and demand of nuclear fuel based on three scenarios for global nuclear generating capacity, ranging from a substantial revival of nuclear power to a slow decline over the period till 2030.
- Uranium Enrichment, Jim Falk & Roger Bodman, energyscience, November 2006. Fact sheet on uranium enrichment.
Spent Fuel
- Japan’s Civilian Nuclear Fuel Cycle and Spent Fuel Issue, Tadahiro Katsuta and Tatsujiro Suzuki, June 2006. This paper analyzes the future requirement of spent fuel storage in Japan and examines possible options to minimize future plutonium stockpiles in Japan without compromising Japan’s energy security.
Nonproliferation Impacts
- An Evaluation of the Proliferation Resistant Characteristics of Light Water Reactor Fuel with the Potential for Recycle in the United States, compiled by Alan E. Waltar and Ronald P. Omberg, Pacific Northwest National Laboratory, November 2004. This is the report of a committee of international experts convened by the US Department of Energy to review the nonproliferation potential of advanced light-water reactor fuels. They conclude that the research and development on advanced fuels in the UREX process has the potential for a major nonproliferation advance.
- Securing the Bomb 2006. Matthew Bunn and Anthony Weir, Securing the Atom Project, July 2006. This study finds that large amount of weapons-usable nuclear material remains in vulnerable sites around the world and could find its way into the hands of terrorists seeking a nuclear bomb. It recommends a global effort to secure fissile material and to convert reactors utilizing highly-enriched uranium to less dangerous fuels.