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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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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.
Udo Wehmann, Hidehito Kinjo, Takeshi Kageyama
Nuclear Science and Engineering | Volume 140 | Number 3 | March 2002 | Pages 205-222
Technical Paper | doi.org/10.13182/NSE02-A2257
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
Studies have been performed on plutonium burning in the Japanese prototype fast breeder reactor Monju. The main aims of these studies were to illustrate the plutonium-burning capabilities of fast reactors and to investigate the consequences of the related core design measures on the main core characteristics of Monju. Burner cores with diluting pins, with diluting subassemblies (also called diluents), and with an internal slice of inert material have been investigated; these require an increased average plutonium enrichment and thus offer an enhanced plutonium-burning rate. On the other hand, the consequences of the elimination of the radial and/or axial blanket have been investigated.Among the burner concepts, the B4C containing diluents have been found to be preferable because they cause the smallest maximum linear rating increase and offer the largest flexibility to adapt their reactivity via a modification of the B4C content. They also do not require a new fuel subassembly concept.For the case of the blanket elimination, the replacement of the blankets by steel reflectors has been found to be the best solution. The main consequence of the elimination of both blankets is the increase of the maximum linear rating by up to 11%. Whether this increase may lead to problems will depend on the actual linear power level of the core.