Spent Nuclear Fuel Reprocessing: Where We Have Been and Where We are Going
Details
| Series: | Biomedical and Chemical Engineering |
| Speaker: | Raymond Wymer, Oak Ridge National Laboratory |
| Location: | 369 Link |
| Date: | Fri, Dec 7, 2007 |
| Time: | 1:00 PM |
Additional Information
Spent Nuclear Fuel Reprocessing (SNFR) has the potential to play an important role in securing the Nation’s long-term energy independence from foreign suppliers of fossil fuels and in improving the environment.
The U.S. has not been active in SNFR since the mid 1970’s after which France, the UK, Russia, Japan, China and India have develop expertise and leadership roles.
The U.S. is proposing to re-enter the SNFR arena through a multinational initiative called Global Nuclear Energy Partnership (GNEP) whose goals are to provide the benefits of wide availability of nuclear energy yet minimize nuclear proliferation risks and reduce global warming from “greenhouse” gases. These goals, and others, are to be achieved by providing centralized reprocessing and fuel fabrication services in the U.S. and partnering foreign countries. It is proposed to build an Advanced Fuel Cycle Facility, a facility for reprocessing R&D, and a new generation of fast reactors for consuming and producing power from the actinide elements from reprocessed fuels. The talk will discuss these goals and describe various political and technological hurdles to surmount before GNEP becomes a reality.
Dr. Wymer is a former director of the ORNL Chemical Technology Division, is a consultant to DOE, and the NRC, and is an Associate Member National Academy of Sciences.
All are invited to attend