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Supply Assurance in the Nuclear Fuel Cycle

Supply Assurance in the Nuclear Fuel Cycle The security of nuclear fuel supply is a source of economic and political concern to many countries. These worries result, in part, from a heightened awareness of the role of energy in national economic health and security in the wake of the 1973-74 oil crisis, and from an increased sensitivity to the vulnerability of foreign sources of energy supply. However, other issues and events specific to nuclear fuel have exacerbated this general assurance prob­ lem. The oil crisis increased the importance of nuclear power to Western Europe and Japan, and the resulting large capital-intensive reactor commit­ ments have created their own fuel supply imperatives. The nuclear fuel supply system is also complex, requiring a sequence of processing steps, several of which are highly concentrated in a few supplier countries. Histor­ ically, nuclear fuel supply has experienced serious market and political problems, including substantial variations in market conditions, market lThis review is based on research sponsored by the United States Department ofEnergy, though the analyses presented here are the responsibility of the authors alone. A number of faculty, staff, and students at MIT have contributed to this research. They include: Richard A. Charpie, A. Veronika Demers, Virginia Faust, John http://www.deepdyve.com/assets/images/DeepDyve-Logo-lg.png Annual Review of Environment and Resources Annual Reviews

Supply Assurance in the Nuclear Fuel Cycle

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Publisher
Annual Reviews
Copyright
Copyright 1979 Annual Reviews. All rights reserved
Subject
Review Articles
ISSN
1543-5938
DOI
10.1146/annurev.eg.04.110179.001355
Publisher site
See Article on Publisher Site

Abstract

The security of nuclear fuel supply is a source of economic and political concern to many countries. These worries result, in part, from a heightened awareness of the role of energy in national economic health and security in the wake of the 1973-74 oil crisis, and from an increased sensitivity to the vulnerability of foreign sources of energy supply. However, other issues and events specific to nuclear fuel have exacerbated this general assurance prob­ lem. The oil crisis increased the importance of nuclear power to Western Europe and Japan, and the resulting large capital-intensive reactor commit­ ments have created their own fuel supply imperatives. The nuclear fuel supply system is also complex, requiring a sequence of processing steps, several of which are highly concentrated in a few supplier countries. Histor­ ically, nuclear fuel supply has experienced serious market and political problems, including substantial variations in market conditions, market lThis review is based on research sponsored by the United States Department ofEnergy, though the analyses presented here are the responsibility of the authors alone. A number of faculty, staff, and students at MIT have contributed to this research. They include: Richard A. Charpie, A. Veronika Demers, Virginia Faust, John

Journal

Annual Review of Environment and Resources – Annual Reviews

Published: Nov 1, 1979

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