NewMOX®
NewMOX® fuel: A sustainable nuclear fuel for nuclear power generation.
NewMOX® can provide nuclear fuel for light water reactors and also for fast breader reactors including SMRs version of these reactor types.
NewMOX® fuel enable long time operation of the fuel similar to High-Assay Low-Enriched
Uranium Fuel utilizing Plutonium instead of Uranium-235.
NewMOX® will utilize existing raw material sources.
NewMOX® enables a fuel supply in short time and will be a sustainable mid and long term fuel supply.
ABOUT US
NewMOX is a subsidiary of ALD Vacuum Technologies GmbH, Hanau, Germany („ALD“), AMG Critical Materials NV’s engineering subsidiary focused on vacuum furnace technology, which includes sintering furnace systems enabling the production of commercial nuclear fuel from plutonium and depleted uranium (termed “MOX”). ALD’s MOX technology has been applied in Germany, the United States, France, Belgium, the United Kingdom and recently ALD has been delivering such furnace systems to China. ALD – where D stands for Degussa – inherited the MOX technology from Degussa AG, ALD’s former owner (later renamed Evonik AG).
Initiated by AMG Critical Materials ALD France set up the project NewMOX® to perform a feasibility study for the supply of MOX fuel for SMRs with the final objective to build and operate a NewMOX® plant.
NUCLEAR BACKGROUND
NewMOX® is a subsidiary of ALD Vacuum Technologies, who gathered the nuclear competences from Degussa and Leybold.
Degussa started in the 1960th with the development of equipment for Nuclear Fuel Manufacturing.
- Sintering Furnaces for UO2 and MOX
- Furnaces integrated into Glove Boxes and Hot Cells
Equipment for of HTR fuel element productions
Leybold also developed equipment for the Nuclear Industry.
- Filling system for fuel pellets into fuel rods
- Closing of fuel rods by welding
- Transfer system of HTR elements
- Catalyst for hydrogen reduction in a reactor vessel
These technologies have been transferred to Leybold Durferrit and later to ALD Vacuum Technologies. To concentrate the nuclear activities 2006 FNAG was founded. Finally, ALD France was established in 2014. In addition, ALD France developed also technologies for nuclear waste treatment.
- Mobile nuclear scrap melter
- Impermeable graphite as embedding matrix for nuclear waste
NewMOX® Grenobles SAS
NewMOX® goal is to contribute to CO2 reduction.
Nuclear energy has been a reliable producer of electrical energy in the last 50 years with a low carbon footprint.
NewMOX SAS, Grenoble will be a suplier of MOX fuel elements for a sustainable supply of nuclear power plants.
The vison of NewMOX® is to be major player in the Nuclear Fuel market.
NewMOX® SAS Grenoble wants to install and operate such MOX fuel facility.
NewMOX® PROJECT
NewMOX® will supply MOX fuel for nuclear power generation
Plutonium is produced as a by-product when uranium fuel is used during the operation of a nuclear reactor. The plutonium is isolated from the spent fuel elements through a reprocessing process and then reused as new nuclear fuel. Such reprocessing of spent fuel elements was carried out in the USA and Great Britain and is still the current process to handle spent fuel in France. A large amount of plutonium has been recovered in the process. In France, a certain proportion of the plutonium is used for the production of MOX fuel elements. In the USA and Great Britain, the extracted plutonium is currently only stored at high cost. The British government estimates that storing the plutonium will cost around £7.3bn over the next 100 years. Only the plutonium stored at Sellafield would already allow the operation of 4 nuclear power plants¹ for approximately 40 years.
| Plutonium quantities stored² by Country | Plutonium for Military use | Plutonium for Civil use |
|---|---|---|
| Russia | 88 tons | 101.3 tons |
| US | 38.4 tons | 49.3 tons |
| France | 6 tons | 67.7 tons |
| China | 2.9 tons | – |
| UK | 3.2 tons | 115.8 tons |
| Japan | – | 45.7 tons |
Closing the gap in nuclear fuel supply for SMRs
High-Assay Low Enriched Uranium (HALEU) is foreseen in many SMRs as fuel but it is actually only available in small quantities in the western world and will be mostly produced by downgrading high enriched foreseen as nuclear fuel for research reactors. The use of alternative nuclear fuels, such as plutonium, is necessary as a long-term solution for the future. Therefore NEWMOX® will a high flexible plant which will be able to produce fuel elements for SMRs.
How a vision could become reality
The objective of the NewMOX® project is the building and operation of a MOX manufacturing plant which could supply MOX fuel elements to nuclear power plants.
The capacity of such a plant is currently being planned with an annual production of 20 tons of MOX in the basic version.
The objective of the NewMOX® project is the erection and operation of a MOX manufacturing plant which could supply MOX fuel elements to SMRs.
The capacity of such a plant is currently being planned with an annual production of 40 tons of MOX in the basic version.
¹ Assuming a MOX fuel with 7 % Plutonium and a 100 MW SMR
² ©RECNA Fissile Material Data Monitoring Team
Nuclear Power
In numerous countries globally, nuclear energy is considered an environmentally friendly power source aimed at curbing carbon dioxide emissions.
The most widespread commercial reactor type is the light water reactor (LWR) with a power of approx. 1000 MW or more. These reactors can be operated with up to one third MOX fuel elements with a plutonium content of approx. 7%. Modern Generation 3+ LWRs can even be operated exclusively with MOX fuel elements.
The use of MOX with plutonium contents of 20% and higher is standard for fast breeder reactors.
Intriguing reactor designs have been explored and refined, leading to the development of Small Modular Reactors (SMRs).
A noteworthy advancement in sustainable nuclear technology is exemplified by NewMOX® project, utilizing mixed oxide (MOX) fuel for large nuclear power plants as well as SMRs.
Greenhouse gases by energy source in CO2 equivalents g/kWh
Source: www.tech-for-future.de/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2021/01/Treibhausgase-nach-Energiequelle.png
Small Modular Reactors are nuclear reactors with a power less the 500 MWe
In many countries, SMRs are seen as a future solution to ensure a secure supply of electricity and process heat. Thanks to their flexible operation, SMRs can be switched on and off quickly and are therefore ideal for combined use in a power grid with renewable energy generators such as wind or solar energy. MOX fuel, while commonly associated with these SMRs, extends its applicability beyond these smaller units, finding utility in large-scale nuclear reactors as well.
More than 60 different SMR projects are currently being planned worldwide. From smaller designs of current reactors to completely new reactor concepts, these developments offer great potential for the future.
SMRs with water as coolant and moderator are very likely to be the first SMRs to become commercially available because of their similarity to classic large light water reactors (LWR) and reactors utilized successfully in submarines and aircraft carriers.
The small size of SMRs greatly reduces construction costs. An interesting factor is the potential of the reactor for series production in a factory and transport of the finished reactors by truck to the planned site.
The lower power reduces also the risks for mayor incidents especially by using safety technologies developed for Generation IV reactor systems e.g. passive cooling system. A further positive feature is the longer operations time of the fuel elements by using High-Assay Low-Enriched Uranium (HALEU). HALEU utilize uranium with an enrichment of up to 20% 235U with is actually not available on the market in larger amounts. NewMOX® is an alternative fuel which can be used instead of HALEU in LWR or Fast Breeder SMRs.
MOX
WHAT IS MOX?
MOX is consist of depleted Uranium and Plutonium
Depleted Uranium
Depleted Uranium is a by-product of the Enrichment of Uranium and has only a limited use. Therefore depleted uranium is piled up as waste in many countries.
Plutonium
Plutonium is separated by reprocessing of spent nuclear fuel.
A Plutonium stock pile of about 500 tons has been generated worldwide in the last decades. Most of the Plutonium stock is expensively stored as potential nuclear waste
NewMOX® will
Utilize existing raw materials
Reduce expensive stock piles
Enable a mid and long term sustainable supply of nuclear fuel
Contact
Serge Bertrand
NewMOX SAS
62 rue Louise Drevet, Lieu-dit Pra Paris
38360 NOYAREY
France
Tel. +33 (476) 13 45 26
Mobile: +33 (647) 145 583
S.Bertrand@newmox.eu
Dr. Johannes Fachinger
ALD Vacuum Technologies GmbH / NewMOX, ZN Hanau
Otto-von-Guericke-Platz 1
63457 Hanau
Germany
Tel. +49 6181 307 3497
Mobile: +49 176 1307 3497
J.Fachinger@newmox.eu