Fuel Resources Research and Development

Fuel Resources Research and Development Robert R. Price Director, Office of Systems Engineering and Integration Fuel Cycle Technologies Program 13 October 2010 Boston, MA

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aunique dialect. Boston English is a dialect of American English spoken in the city of Boston, Massachusetts and much of eastern Massachusetts. The Boston accent and closely related accents can be heard commonly in an area stretching into much of Massachusetts, New England ... www.bu.edu/mfeldman/Boston/wicked.html Systems Engineering and Integration

Now to the business at hand Fuel Resources Research and Development Systems Engineering and Integration

Questions persist on sustainability of nuclear energy “The analysis of data on uranium resources leads to the assessment that discovered reserves are not sufficient to guarantee the uranium supply for more than thirty years.” Energy Watch Group, Dec 2006 in Uranium Resources and Nuclear Energy “Uranium, the fuel of choice for nuclear power plants is a finite resource that is becoming in short supply.” GersonLehrman Group, 23 April 2007 in Uranium Scarcity Raising Questions about Expanding Nuclear Power “The supply of uranium has already reached its peak, in 1981... As a result, about a quarter of nuclear power plants could be forced to shut down within a decade because of a lack of fuel.” Michael Meacher, 7 June 2006, in On the Road to Ruin, The Guardian “A global shortage of uranium could jeopardise plans to build a new generation of nuclear power stations in Britain. “ Angela Jameson, 15 Aug 2005 in Uranium shortage poses threat, The Times

Fuel Resources Campaign “Fuel Resource Exploration and Mining – The availability of fuel resources for each potential fuel cycle and reactor deployment scenario must be understood… involvement in this area would be R&D to support investigation of long-term, ‘game-changing’ approaches such as recovering uranium from seawater.” Fuel Resources Mission Identify and implement actions to assure that economic nuclear fuel resources remain available in the United States.

Fuel Resources Campaign Scope of Work Resource Exploration • Why? • Low prices and U.S. industry structure provides little opportunity for R&D • Exploration is time consuming and costly • Benefits • Improved discovery techniques could increase resource base • Evaluate for potential future R&D opportunities through workshops

Fuel Resources Campaign Scope of Work Resource Estimation • Why? • U.S. baseline resource estimate is over 30 years old (NURE ca 1980s) • Estimates only first generation • Considerable new exploration since 2001 • Current resource estimation tools do not utilize advances in HPC • Can we learn from other commodities? • Benefits • A revised estimate is fundamental to defining long-term sustainability (how much is there?) • Reduce time and cost of defining ore bodies

Fuel Resources Campaign Scope of Work Resource Extraction Why? • Unconventional resources represent vast potential sources of nuclear fuel • High costs of production limit their usefulness • Benefits • Eliminate concerns about long-term sustainability of nuclear energy • Create an upper bound on resource cost

Fuel Resources Campaign Strategy • Focus on R&D related to U and Th fuel resources • Long-term, high-risk R&D • Science-based • Goal-oriented • Peer reviewed • Multidisciplinary team approach • Create university-based Center(s) of Excellence Because of its enormous potential, extraction from seawater will receive priority attention Program Goal: To double the seawater U sorption capacity of the current best-in-class adsorbents (Japanese system) in three years.

Why Focus on Uranium from Seawater? “I conclude that ocean extraction of uranium would turn today’s once-through reactors into a “sustainable” option – assuming that the uranium reactors can cover the energy cost of the ocean extraction process.” David JC MacKay Sustainable Energy - without the hot air

Meeting Objective • Bring together world-class experts • Evaluate state of the art in uranium exploration, estimation and extraction technologies • Identify R&D opportunities and needs suitable for federal investment Fuel Resources

Summary • Fuel Resources Campaign begun in FY10 • Campaign organized around three major components • Exploration, Estimation, Extraction • Strategy is to implement a science-based, goal-oriented program • Extraction of U from seawater is primary near-term focus • Learn from the Japanese experience • Rapid, significant improvement is program objective • Meeting objective is to bring together world-class experts to evaluate state of the art in uranium exploration, estimation and extraction technologies and identify R&D opportunities and needs suitable for federal investment

Fuel Resources Research and Development