Office of
Nuclear Energy,
Science and
Technology

U.S. Department
of Energy

AFCI Program

Advanced Fuel Cycle Initiative (AFCI) is a focused research and development program to support the implementation of an advanced nuclear fuel cycle and to provide for an effective transition from the current once-through cycle. AFCI is part of an integrated strategy of the U.S. Department of Energy's Office of Nuclear Energy, Science and Technology, which also includes the Nuclear Power 2010 Program, the Generation IV Nuclear Energy Systems Initiative (Generation IV), and the Nuclear Hydrogen Initiative.

AFCI has been important in reestablishing the viability of civilian nuclear capabilities and facilities in the United States. Research and development projects have engaged the national laboratories, universities, and industry.

Implementation of AFCI technologies has the potential to reduce the cost of waste management, delay the technical need for a second geologic repository, and dramatically reduce the inventory of civilian plutonium in the U.S. while recovering the energy value from spent nuclear fuel. With a Secretarial Recommendation to the President and to Congress, required during the 2007–2010 timeframe on the need for a second repository, the AFCI program will provide timely information to support waste management options.

The AFCI technical program is organized by program elements spanning all activities necessary to support Generation IV fuels, the transitional fuel cycle, and the Generation IV advanced fuel cycle.




Vision

The vision of the AFCI program is to support the growth of nuclear power and enable energy independence in the U.S. by developing and demonstrating technologies that enable transition to a stable, long-term, environmentally, economically and politically acceptable advanced fuel cycle.

Goals

The AFCI goal is to develop fuel systems for Generation IV reactors and create enabling fuel cycle technologies that 1) reduce high-level waste volume, 2) greatly reduce long-lived and highly radiotoxic elements, and 3) reclaim valuable energy content of spent nuclear fuel. The AFCI technologies will support both current and future nuclear energy systems.

Objectives

The AFCI Program seeks to:

  • Reduce the quantity and radiotoxicity of high-level nuclear waste bound for geologic disposal
  • Enable more effective use of the currently proposed geologic repository and reduce the cost of the geologic disposal
  • Reduce the inventories of civilian plutonium in the U.S.
  • Enable recovery of the energy value from commercial spent nuclear fuel
  • Develop fuels and fuel cycles for Generation IV nuclear energy systems

  


Website contact:  Jackie Silva  (505) 844-8690 || Privacy and Security       www.sandia.gov