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Conference Spotlight
Nuclear Energy Conference & Expo (NECX)
September 8–11, 2025
Atlanta, GA|Atlanta Marriott Marquis
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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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Deep Space: The new frontier of radiation controls
In commercial nuclear power, there has always been a deliberate tension between the regulator and the utility owner. The regulator fundamentally exists to protect the worker, and the utility, to make a profit. It is a win-win balance.
From the U.S. nuclear industry has emerged a brilliantly successful occupational nuclear safety record—largely the result of an ALARA (as low as reasonably achievable) process that has driven exposure rates down to what only a decade ago would have been considered unthinkable. In the U.S. nuclear industry, the system has accomplished an excellent, nearly seamless process that succeeds to the benefit of both employee and utility owner.
Vladimir A. Babenko, Laszlo L. Jenkovszky, Volodymyr A. Romanov, Volodymyr N. Pavlovych, Oleg Ya. Vertsimakha
Nuclear Science and Engineering | Volume 133 | Number 3 | November 1999 | Pages 301-313
Technical Paper | doi.org/10.13182/NSE99-A2090
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
The results are presented of an investigation of the multiplying properties of lava-formed fuel-containing masses (LFCM); also, the possibility of developing ignition and dynamics of a self-sustaining chain reaction (SCR) in the LFCM of the destroyed Unit 4 of the Chernobyl nuclear power plant (the so-called Shelter) is discussed. The SCALE 4.3 computer code was used to calculate the multiplication factor, the neutron energy spectrum, the spatial distribution of the neutron flux density, etc., as functions of the water content in the LFCM for different system models. These results can help to determine the optimum placement of detectors in the rooms under the reactor. In addition, the dynamic of an SCR under the hypothetical condition that the filling of the LFCM by water leads to an excess multiplication factor over unity was considered. Such a treatment was performed for a simple model that takes into account the evaporation of water and an increase in temperature due to an energy release in the LFCM. The different modes of the LFCM behavior depending on the velocity of water filling are discussed.
