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.
Explore membership for yourself or for your organization.
Conference Spotlight
2026 ANS Annual Conference
May 31–June 3, 2026
Denver, CO|Sheraton Denver
Latest Magazine Issues
May 2026
Jan 2026
2026
Latest Journal Issues
Nuclear Science and Engineering
June 2026
Nuclear Technology
Fusion Science and Technology
Latest News
WIPP: Lessons in transportation safety
As part of a future consent-based approach by the federal government to site new deep geologic repositories for nuclear waste, local communities and states that are considering hosting such facilities are sure to have many questions. Currently, the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant in New Mexico is the only example of such a repository in operation, and it offers the opportunity for state and local officials to visit and judge for themselves the risks and benefits of hosting a similar facility. But its history can also provide lessons for these officials, particularly the political process leading up to the opening of WIPP, the safety of WIPP operations and transportation of waste from generator facilities to the site, and the economic impacts the project has had on the local area of Carlsbad, as well as the rest of the state of New Mexico.
W. Brian Clarke
Fusion Science and Technology | Volume 43 | Number 1 | January 2003 | Pages 122-127
Technical Paper | doi.org/10.13182/FST03-A253
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
A series of lead vials of internal volume 1.0 cm3 were charged with ~200 mg of carbon catalyst containing 0.5% Pd and 0.4% Pd. The vials were clamped to stainless steel manifolds on a vacuum line, then pumped out and filled with high-purity H2 or D2 at a pressure of 152 cm Hg and a temperature of 23°C. Several vials contained ordinary activated carbon instead of palladium-carbon, and some vials contained only H2 or D2. All the vials were stored in a sandbox heated to ~200°C for times up to 45 days before mass spectrometer measurements of 3He and 4He were made. No evidence was found for the high concentrations of 4He claimed in similar experiments by several other researchers. The upper limit for the concentration excess of 4He in D2 in vials containing palladium-carbon is 11 ppt (parts per trillion) at the 95% confidence level. This limit for 4He may be compared with previous claims in similar experiments of 100 ppm (parts per million) by Case and 11 ppm by George and McKubre et al.