ANS is committed to advancing, fostering, and promoting the development and application of nuclear sciences and technologies to benefit society.
Explore the many uses for nuclear science and its impact on energy, the environment, healthcare, food, and more.
Division Spotlight
Robotics & Remote Systems
The Mission of the Robotics and Remote Systems Division is to promote the development and application of immersive simulation, robotics, and remote systems for hazardous environments for the purpose of reducing hazardous exposure to individuals, reducing environmental hazards and reducing the cost of performing work.
Meeting Spotlight
2024 ANS Annual Conference
June 16–19, 2024
Las Vegas, NV|Mandalay Bay Resort and Casino
Standards Program
The Standards Committee is responsible for the development and maintenance of voluntary consensus standards that address the design, analysis, and operation of components, systems, and facilities related to the application of nuclear science and technology. Find out What’s New, check out the Standards Store, or Get Involved today!
Latest Magazine Issues
Apr 2024
Jan 2024
Latest Journal Issues
Nuclear Science and Engineering
May 2024
Nuclear Technology
Fusion Science and Technology
Latest News
Glass strategy: Hanford’s enhanced waste glass program
The mission of the Department of Energy’s Office of River Protection (ORP) is to complete the safe cleanup of waste resulting from decades of nuclear weapons development. One of the most technologically challenging responsibilities is the safe disposition of approximately 56 million gallons of radioactive waste historically stored in 177 tanks at the Hanford Site in Washington state.
ORP has a clear incentive to reduce the overall mission duration and cost. One pathway is to develop and deploy innovative technical solutions that can advance baseline flow sheets toward higher efficiency operations while reducing identified risks without compromising safety. Vitrification is the baseline process that will convert both high-level and low-level radioactive waste at Hanford into a stable glass waste form for long-term storage and disposal.
Although vitrification is a mature technology, there are key areas where technology can further reduce operational risks, advance baseline processes to maximize waste throughput, and provide the underpinning to enhance operational flexibility; all steps in reducing mission duration and cost.
Sandra J. Brereton, Mujid S. Kazimi
Fusion Science and Technology | Volume 10 | Number 2 | September 1986 | Pages 275-289
Technical Paper | Safety/Environmental Aspect | doi.org/10.13182/FST86-A24979
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
A methodology is presented that can be used to determine if a proposed fusion power plant design modification, directed at improving plant safety, is cost-effective. Both normal and accident conditions can be handled. An approach for evaluating the maximum justified spending on safety is outlined. The incremental costs involved with a dose reduction measure are identified, and models for their assessment are given. By comparing the spending on the design modification to the justified expenditure ceiling, the cost-effectiveness of the design can be assessed. The utility of this approach is illustrated through two examples. For normal plant conditions, the cost-effectiveness of replacing the steel alloy PCA by low-activation silicon carbide (SiC) in the STARFIRE design is assessed. Based on a specified set of assumptions, it was determined that if the installed cost of SiC components is less than $110/kg, then the low-activation design is cost-effective. The second example illustrates the applicability of the methodology to accident situations. Four emergency detritiation options for the International Tokamak Reactor, using zero, one, two, or three cleanup units, are evaluated. The assessment was based on the release of 25 g of tritium into the reactor building and on several specified assumptions. The analysis indicated that if the probability of the accident occurring exceeds 3.59 × 10−2, the most cost-effective option would be the use of one detritiation unit. For lower probabilities, the use of any cleanup system would not be justified.