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Thermal Hydraulics
The division provides a forum for focused technical dialogue on thermal hydraulic technology in the nuclear industry. Specifically, this will include heat transfer and fluid mechanics involved in the utilization of nuclear energy. It is intended to attract the highest quality of theoretical and experimental work to ANS, including research on basic phenomena and application to nuclear system design.
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2024 ANS Annual Conference
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Las Vegas, NV|Mandalay Bay Resort and Casino
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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!
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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.
Jeffery F. Latkowski, Jasmina L. Vujic
Fusion Science and Technology | Volume 33 | Number 3 | May 1998 | Pages 298-340
Technical Paper | doi.org/10.13182/FST98-A35
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
A consistent method for the comparison of environmental, safety, and health (ES&H) characteristics of fusion power plant designs is developed. Such comparisons enable identification of trends in fusion ES&H characteristics and can be used to increase the likelihood of fusion achieving its full potential with respect to ES&H characteristics.A large number of radiological hazard indexes are defined in three different categories of hazard: accidents, occupational and routine exposures, and waste disposal. Using a consistent set of computer codes, data libraries, and assumptions, these radiological hazard indexes are calculated and compared for five inertial and two magnetic fusion energy power plant designs.The results of the analysis are threefold: The utility of low-activation materials (LAMs) is confirmed, the tremendous potential for the use of a thick-liquid system for first-wall protection is validated, and the strong need for materials that can last for the lifetime of the power plant is shown.The conservative radionuclide release fractions that are used show that all but one of the designs has only a minute chance of producing any early fatalities during an accident. The need for remote maintenance in most designs is confirmed, and the possibility of disposing of most fusion wastes via shallow land burial (if the methodology of current regulations is applied to fusion wastes) is shown.The need for more research in LAMs and for the experimental measurement of radionuclide release fractions under accident conditions is emphasized.