‘Will cut its use of natural uranium by 50%’

Researchers at Russia’s A.I. Leypunsky Institute of Physics and Power Engineering discovered a way to achieve a balanced nuclear fuel cycle while reducing waste.

By testing a water-cooled and moderated reactor with mixed oxide nuclear fuel, they boosted efficiency and recycled waste in nuclear fission. 

As Interesting Engineering reported, the researchers tested the VVER-S reactor, which they expected to produce 600 MW of electrical power. They used a water moderation process to remove excess heat from the fuel and slow the fast-moving neutrons to improve efficiency. 

Using a mechanical system that alters the water-to-uranium fuel ratio, their reactor causes uranium-238 to absorb excess neutrons and produce plutonium to be used as fuel. This process recycles material that would otherwise go to waste. 

Rosatom, the Russian state corporation developing the reactor, said that if the reactor can use a full load of the mixed oxide fuel, “it will cut its use of natural uranium by 50% and, over its lifetime — with high uranium prices — could save about the same amount as the capital cost of a unit.”

This nuclear fission development is significant because it could maximize energy extraction while minimizing waste and reducing costs. These are among the biggest current challenges with nuclear fission reactors, and the Russian researchers addressed each of them with this study. 

Fission energy, released when a heavy atom’s nucleus is split into smaller parts, is promising because it can generate electricity in nuclear power plants. It is a powerful way to create energy without relying on coal, oil, or gas, or adding more pollution to our air. 

Developments that further fission energy research contribute to larger sustainability goals of diversifying clean energy sources and limiting environmental pollution. 

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Meanwhile, scientists like the ones at Rosatom continue working to integrate fission energy into our daily lives, making electricity more available, affordable, and sustainable in the long term. 

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Other research teams are simultaneously working on commercial fusion products to provide our world with limitless energy. 

Additional goals outlined in Russia’s Nuclear Development Strategy 2050 include reducing uranium consumption, radioactive waste, and construction costs while supporting a closed fuel cycle and flexible power output. 

The ultimate hope is that nuclear reactors, with this new technology, could replace polluting coal plants, supply off-grid power, and achieve other clean energy goals. 

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