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Division Spotlight
Operations & Power
Members focus on the dissemination of knowledge and information in the area of power reactors with particular application to the production of electric power and process heat. The division sponsors meetings on the coverage of applied nuclear science and engineering as related to power plants, non-power reactors, and other nuclear facilities. It encourages and assists with the dissemination of knowledge pertinent to the safe and efficient operation of nuclear facilities through professional staff development, information exchange, and supporting the generation of viable solutions to current issues.
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!
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Fusion Science and Technology
Latest News
WIPP improves utility shaft safety, begins infrastructure project
Harrison Western Shaft Sinkers (HWSS), the company drilling a new utility shaft at the Department of Energy’s Waste Isolation Pilot Plant in New Mexico, has retained a safety culture expert following a near-miss accident in the shaft late last year. The safety expert will conduct monthly facilitated discussions with crews working on the shaft to reinforce expectations for identifying concerns regarding unsafe circumstances, according to a recent report by the Defense Nuclear Facilities Safety Board (DNFSB).
Viorel Fugaru, Cristian Postolache, Maria Gheorghe, Lidia Radu, Nastasia Saca
Fusion Science and Technology | Volume 71 | Number 3 | April 2017 | Pages 286-289
Technical Paper | doi.org/10.1080/15361055.2017.1293444
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
The study was conducted in order to determine the immobilization performance of low-level tritium waste in new cement mixtures. The grouts analyzed are fine mortars, fluid, self- compacting, with flowability, able to fill the smallest gaps in the solid waste container. The grouts curing showed compact and structural integrity without pores and cracks, so as to ensure radioactive tritium waste encapsulation.
Two types of solid/liquid tritium radioactive waste with known tritium activity have been prepared: one type containing a hydrophilic tritium compound and the other one a hydrophobic tritium compound.
The tritium waste was mixed with three different types of grout and poured in a cylindrical mould. The leaching of tritium from waste solidified/encapsulated in the cement mixtures immersed in an aqueous environment has been studied in order to select the most appropriate grout type as waste immobilization matrix.
Samples from the liquid surrounding the cements blocks were collected at predetermined time intervals and placed in the liquid scintillation cocktail and measured. The activity of the tritium released was then calculated.