International Symposium

To increase energy security and to reduce carbon emissions to the atmosphere, the world is preparing for a new era of expansion in nuclear energy.  The rate at which nuclear energy growth will materialize is subject to several constraints.  Many of the constraints are related to the fuel cycle. This symposium, jointly organized by CANES of MIT and Directorate of Advanced Reactors at the CEA of France, will review the fuel cycle options and address several questions:

• Does the world have enough uranium to support such an expansion without resorting to fuel breeding in advanced fast reactors? 
• What reactors and fuel cycle options are best to reduce the burden of storage and disposal of spent fuel?
• What chemical separation and fuel recycling industrial technology and infrastructure are needed to allow nuclear to expand at a rate many times the rate experienced near the end of the last century?
• What are the differences in the economics of open and closed nuclear fuel cycles?
• How can the world cope with an expanded use of nuclear civilian applications without increasing the threat of nuclear weapons?

This international symposium is dedicated to the memory of Manson Benedict, the main developer of molecular diffusion as uranium enrichment technology during the Manhattan project, the founder of the professional discipline of nuclear chemical engineering, and the founder of the Department of Nuclear Engineering at MIT who passed away on September 18, 2006.

Session 1 | Growing Demand for Nuclear Power: Implications for the Fuel Cycle

• Assessment of Nuclear Power Development and Growing Uranium Demand | P. Pradel, CEA
• Fuel Cycle Management in the US | Ernest Moniz, MIT
• International Collaboration in the Fuel Cycle | Victor Reis, DOE

Session 2 : Infrastructure Needs of the New Nuclear Era

• INL's Role in the Nuclear Renaissance | John Grossenbacher, INL
• How To Reconcile Medium Term Industrial Endeavors with Longer Term R&D Initiatives? How to Make National Initiatives Globally Consistent | J. Bouchard, CEA
• The Role of Systems Analysis in Fuel Cycle Development | Kathryn A. McCarthy, INL

Session 3 : Closing the Fuel Cycle: Priorities and Timetable

• Industry View of Fuel Recycling | Albert Machiels, EPRI
• Assessment of Strategies for Global Actinide Management in the Transition from LWRS to Fast Reactors in France | F. Carre / M. Delpech, CEA
• The Path Towards Advanced Fuel Cycles | Phillip Finck, INL

Session 4 : Actinide Burning: Role of Thermal and Fast Reactors

• The Role of LWRS in Actinide Management | Mujid Kazimi, MIT
• Merits of Fast Reactors for Efficient Use of Uranium Ore and Reduction of Ultimate Waste | J. L. Carbonnier, CEA
• Role of Gas Cooled Reactor | Francesco Venneri, GA

Session 5 : Recycling Technology Options

• R&D Program in France on Advanced Fuel Cycle Processes | P. Brossard, CEA
• Technology options for spent fuel recycling | James Laidler, ANL
• The interrelationship of spent fuel processing, actinide recycling, and geologic repository design | Roald Wigeland, ANL

Session 6 : Innovative Ideas for Future Technology and Policy

• Fast Reactors with Minimum Need for Fuel Reprocessing | Mike Driscoll, MIT
• CANDU and Dry Recycling Use in Actinide Management | Herb Feinroth, Gamma Engineering
• Do We Need Fast Actinide Burners for Waste Management? | Pavel Hejzlar, MIT

Session 7 : Economics of Recycling in an International Order

• Outlook on the Economics of Recycling: The French Experience | Eric Proust, CEA
• Economics of Near-Term Reprocessing of U.S. Nuclear Fuel -- And Other Benefits and Risks | Matt Bunn, Harvard University
• An Industrial Perspective on Recycling Costs | Alan Hanson, AREVA