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I’ve heard many, many times that one of the biggest problems with nuclear power plants today is simply sourcing fuel. Obviously a large part of that would be du

I’ve heard many, many times that one of the biggest problems with nuclear power plants today is simply sourcing fuel. Obviously a large part of that would be due to international scrutiny and security laws, not to mention trustworthy employees to hold up all of this, but I was seriously under the impression that actually GETTING it is the difficult part. Is that not a supply issue? I admit I only know a bit about the topic, but it’s the only one without a linked source.

DeepSeaTortoise 2y ago
The problem is that western nuclear tech isn't very vertically integrated. If you buy a Russian nuclear power plant, Rosatom takes care of absolutely everything. If you buy a powerplant from anywhere else, you've got to juggle hundreds of various contractors and companies at various stages. So if you've built your system, there will be only very few fuel suppliers left, whose fuel product is approved for usage with all the components. And if one of those suppliers has problems or goes bankrupt (since nuclear fuel is an aweful product to make money with: Very low numbers, extremely strict regulations, very expensive handling and processing, a very unstable and slow growing market, constantly new requirements and all of your customers have huge legal teams and deep pockets), you're going to have a lot of difficulty finding a replacement.
- Saline9515 2y ago
  France has a vertical integration too. https://www.framatome.com/en/ https://www.framatome.com/en/
  - DeepSeaTortoise 2y ago
    Westing House and Hitachi to some degree, too. Well, either I'm outdated or just plain dumb. Over the years I have amassed solid evidence that it might be the latter, tho.
Animats 2y ago
The US seems to have only one uranium enrichment facility left - URENCO, in New Mexico.[1] Uranium mining as a US industry is down to 340 people.[2] That used to be a much larger US industry. It's not lack of ore. It's low prices.[3] [1] https://www.nrc.gov/info-finder/materials/index.html https://www.nrc.gov/info-finder/materials/index.html [2] https://www.eia.gov/uranium/production/annual/ https://www.eia.gov/uranium/production/annual/ [3] https://nuclearinsider.com/reviving-the-atom-charting-the-course-of-u-s-uraniums-comeback-story/ https://nuclearinsider.com/reviving-the-atom-charting-the-co...
- kulahan 2y ago
  Ah, this makes a lot of sense and is resonating with what I remember, thanks!

DeepSeaTortoise 2y ago

The problem is that western nuclear tech isn't very vertically integrated. If you buy a Russian nuclear power plant, Rosatom takes care of absolutely everything. If you buy a powerplant from anywhere else, you've got to juggle hundreds of various contractors and companies at various stages. So if you've built your system, there will be only very few fuel suppliers left, whose fuel product is approved for usage with all the components. And if one of those suppliers has problems or goes bankrupt (since nuclear fuel is an aweful product to make money with: Very low numbers, extremely strict regulations, very expensive handling and processing, a very unstable and slow growing market, constantly new requirements and all of your customers have huge legal teams and deep pockets), you're going to have a lot of difficulty finding a replacement.

Saline9515 2y ago
France has a vertical integration too. https://www.framatome.com/en/ https://www.framatome.com/en/
- DeepSeaTortoise 2y ago
  Westing House and Hitachi to some degree, too. Well, either I'm outdated or just plain dumb. Over the years I have amassed solid evidence that it might be the latter, tho.

Animats 2y ago

The US seems to have only one uranium enrichment facility left - URENCO, in New Mexico.[1] Uranium mining as a US industry is down to 340 people.[2] That used to be a much larger US industry. It's not lack of ore. It's low prices.[3] [1] https://www.nrc.gov/info-finder/materials/index.html https://www.nrc.gov/info-finder/materials/index.html [2] https://www.eia.gov/uranium/production/annual/ https://www.eia.gov/uranium/production/annual/ [3] https://nuclearinsider.com/reviving-the-atom-charting-the-course-of-u-s-uraniums-comeback-story/ https://nuclearinsider.com/reviving-the-atom-charting-the-co...

kulahan 2y ago
Ah, this makes a lot of sense and is resonating with what I remember, thanks!