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2026 Annual Conference
May 31–June 3, 2026
Denver, CO|Sheraton Denver
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What’s the most difficult question you’ve been asked as a maintenance instructor?
Blye Widmar
"Where are the prints?!"
This was the final question in an onslaught of verbal feedback, comments, and critiques I received from my students back in 2019. I had two years of instructor experience and was teaching a class that had been meticulously rehearsed in preparation for an accreditation visit. I knew the training material well and transferred that knowledge effectively enough for all the students to pass the class. As we wrapped up, I asked the students how they felt about my first big system-level class, and they did not hold back.
“Why was the exam from memory when we don’t work from memory in the plant?” “Why didn’t we refer to the vendor documents?” “Why didn’t we practice more on the mock-up?” And so on.
J. Zhang, R. Kapernick, T. F. Marcille
Nuclear Science and Engineering | Volume 160 | Number 1 | September 2008 | Pages 75-97
Technical Paper | doi.org/10.13182/NSE160-75
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
Corrosion of the primary coolant structural materials in a nuclear power system is a potential concern when liquid metal is used as the coolant. For the current space reactor design, liquid sodium-potassium eutectic (NaK) has been selected as a candidate for the primary coolant and stainless steel as the structural material, so whether or not corrosion is a problem for this system must be determined. This paper documents a first step to understanding the extent of corrosion in the selected candidate design. Data available in the literature have been compiled and are analyzed, factors affecting corrosion are assessed, and a theoretical basis of the corrosion mechanisms by liquid metals is presented. This study provides some useful information for the design of NaK coolant systems and some recommendations for what additional experimental and theoretical work is needed to understand the corrosion mechanisms and limitations of using NaK as a primary coolant.
