Nuclear-fuel report challenges key assumptions
Thursday, September 16, 2010MIT News (Browse all news)
MIT study finds no shortage of uranium for nuclear energy for decades, but more research is needed to develop improved fuel-cycle options.
Uranium supplies will not limit the expansion of nuclear power in the U.S. or around the world for the foreseeable future, according to a major new interdisciplinary study produced under the auspices of the MIT Energy Initiative.
The study challenges conventional assumptions about nuclear energy. It suggests that nuclear power using today’s reactor technology with a once-through fuel cycle can play a significant part in displacing the world’s carbon-emitting fossil-fuel plants, and thus help to reduce the potential for global climate change. But determining the best fuel cycle for the next generation of nuclear power plants will require more research, the report concludes.
The Joint Program's Executive Director John Parsons was a member of the Fuel Cycle study group.
Nature News article (9/21/2010)
New York Times article (9/17/2010)
The Future of the Nuclear Fuel Cycle (pdf)