Used CANDU fuel: Energy independence and $ 3 billion carbon-free electricity per tonne

Abstract

All SMRs demand fuel enriched in fissile isotopes. Canada has no enrichment facilities, making the country dependent on foreign sources for its own energy needs. Canada’s 60,000 tonnes used CANDU fuel (UCF) contain 240 tonnes of transuranics that can furnish economical Canadian starting fuel for fast-spectrum (fs) SMRs with a total power of 24,000 MWe, or the equivalent in other SMRs. With recycling, the recovered uranium from the UCF stockpiles can replenish the fs-SMR fuel for centuries. Thus each tonne UCF can create about $ 2 billion carbon-free electricity, or $ 120 trillion for the 60,000 tonnes. This resource must not be buried as waste.