Advanced Fuel Cycle Initiative
Encyclopedia
The Advanced Fuel Cycle Initiative (AFCI) is an extensive research and development effort of the United States Department of Energy
(DOE). The mission and focus of AFCI is to enable the safe, secure, economic and sustainable expansion of nuclear energy by conducting research, development, and demonstration focused on nuclear fuel recycling and waste management to meet U.S. needs.
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United States Department of Energy
The United States Department of Energy is a Cabinet-level department of the United States government concerned with the United States' policies regarding energy and safety in handling nuclear material...
(DOE). The mission and focus of AFCI is to enable the safe, secure, economic and sustainable expansion of nuclear energy by conducting research, development, and demonstration focused on nuclear fuel recycling and waste management to meet U.S. needs.
Focus
- Continue critical fuel cycle Research Development & Demonstration (RD&D) activities
- Pursue development of policy and regulatory framework to support fuel cycle closure
- Determine and develop RD&D infrastructure needed to mature technologies
- Establish advanced modeling and simulation program element
- Implement a science based RD&D program
Campaigns
AFCI is an extensive RD&D effort to close the fuel cycle. The different areas within AFCI are separated into campaigns. The RD&D of each campaign is completed by the United States Department of EnergyUnited States Department of Energy
The United States Department of Energy is a Cabinet-level department of the United States government concerned with the United States' policies regarding energy and safety in handling nuclear material...
's national laboratories.
- Transmutation Fuels
- Fast Reactor Development
- Separations
- Waste Forms
- Grid Appropriate Reactor Campaign
- Safeguards
- Systems Analysis
- Modeling & Simulation
- Safety & Regulatory
Transmutation Fuels
The mission of the Transmutation Fuels Campaign is the generation of data, methods and models for fast reactor transmutation fuels/targets qualification by performing RD&D activities on fuel fabrication and performance. The campaign is led by Idaho National LaboratoryIdaho National Laboratory
Idaho National Laboratory is an complex located in the high desert of eastern Idaho, between the town of Arco to the west and the cities of Idaho Falls and Blackfoot to the east. It lies within Butte, Bingham, Bonneville and Jefferson counties...
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Reactor Development
The mission of the Reactor Campaign is to develop advanced recycling reactor technologies required for commercial deployment in a closed nuclear fuel cycle. The reactor campaign is led at Argonne National LaboratoryArgonne National Laboratory
Argonne National Laboratory is the first science and engineering research national laboratory in the United States, receiving this designation on July 1, 1946. It is the largest national laboratory by size and scope in the Midwest...
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Separations
The mission of the Separations Campaign is to develop and demonstrate industrially deployable and economically feasible technologies for the recycling of used nuclear fuel to provide improved safety, security and optimized waste management. The campaign is led by Idaho National LaboratoryIdaho National Laboratory
Idaho National Laboratory is an complex located in the high desert of eastern Idaho, between the town of Arco to the west and the cities of Idaho Falls and Blackfoot to the east. It lies within Butte, Bingham, Bonneville and Jefferson counties...
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Waste Forms
The mission of the Waste Forms campaign is to develop and demonstrate durable waste forms and processes to enable safe and cost-effective waste management as an integral part of a closed nuclear fuel cycle by establishing a fundamental understanding of behavior through closely coupled theory, experiment, and modeling. This campaign is led at Argonne National LaboratoryArgonne National Laboratory
Argonne National Laboratory is the first science and engineering research national laboratory in the United States, receiving this designation on July 1, 1946. It is the largest national laboratory by size and scope in the Midwest...
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Grid Appropriate Reactor Campaign
The mission of the Grid Appropriate Reactor Campaign is to enable U.S. leadership in the global expansion of nuclear energy by conducting research, development, and demonstration of technologies and innovative reactor designs that offer enhanced safety, security, and proliferation resistance and that are appropriately sized for infrastructure-limited countries.Safeguards
The mission of the Safeguards Campaign is to ensure that domestic fuel cycle facilities fully meet requirements under regulatory frameworks; thereby assuring that nuclear materials have not been diverted or misused. The campaign is led at Sandia National LaboratoriesSandia National Laboratories
The Sandia National Laboratories, managed and operated by the Sandia Corporation , are two major United States Department of Energy research and development national laboratories....
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Systems Analysis
The mission of the Systems Analysis Campaign is to conduct systems-wide analyses of nuclear energy development and infrastructure deployment to enable a requirements-driven process for all technical activities, and to inform strategic planning and key program decisions. The campaign is led at Idaho National LaboratoryIdaho National Laboratory
Idaho National Laboratory is an complex located in the high desert of eastern Idaho, between the town of Arco to the west and the cities of Idaho Falls and Blackfoot to the east. It lies within Butte, Bingham, Bonneville and Jefferson counties...
.
Modeling and Simulation
The mission of the Modeling and Simulation campaign is to rapidly create, and deploy “science-based” verified and validated modeling and simulation capabilities essential for the design, implementation, and operation of future nuclear energy systems with the goal of improving future U.S. energy security. These AFCI activities are led at Argonne National LaboratoryArgonne National Laboratory
Argonne National Laboratory is the first science and engineering research national laboratory in the United States, receiving this designation on July 1, 1946. It is the largest national laboratory by size and scope in the Midwest...
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