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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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DOE on track to deliver high-burnup SNF to Idaho by 2027
The Department of Energy said it anticipated delivering a research cask of high-burnup spent nuclear fuel from Dominion Energy’s North Anna nuclear power plant in Virginia to Idaho National Laboratory by fall 2027. The planned shipment is part of the High Burnup Dry Storage Research Project being conducted by the DOE with the Electric Power Research Institute.
As preparations continue, the DOE said it is working closely with federal agencies as well as tribal and state governments along potential transportation routes to ensure safety, transparency, and readiness every step of the way.
Watch the DOE’s latest video outlining the project here.
Motomasa Fuse, Makoto Nagase, Naoshi Usui, Yoshiteru Sato, Motohiro Aizawa, Tsuyoshi Ito, Hideyuki Hosokawa, Yoichi Wada, Kazushige Ishida
Nuclear Science and Engineering | Volume 181 | Number 2 | October 2015 | Pages 175-190
Technical Paper | doi.org/10.13182/NSE14-101
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
While under normal water chemistry without any specific metal ions in reactor coolant a high electrochemical corrosion potential caused by highly oxidizing species such as hydrogen peroxide promotes the formation of hematite film on piping surfaces with a densely packed film structure, the presence of a certain amount of nickel ions prevents the magnetite film from changing to hematite by forming a nickel ferrite. This formation of nickel ferrite instead of hematite accelerates cobalt buildup, and this is especially notable for carbon steel. The observed reduction of radioactivity concentration in reactor water by zinc injection or by nickel/iron ratio control can be explained by the role of zinc or nickel in preventing the film on the fuel rod surfaces from changing to hematite, thereby stabilizing the cobalt activity on this surface. A thermodynamic evaluation suggests that zinc ferrite is more stable than cobalt ferrite only when the ratio of cobalt to zinc divalent ions, [Co2+]/[Zn2+], is <0.011 in molar units. This ratio is consistent with the ratio of 60Co activity to zinc concentration commonly used in industry to control reactor water zinc levels for a dose rate reduction under the hydrogen water chemistry condition. Based on the present understanding of radioactivity behaviors, the actual radiation dose reduction methods are classified into the several groups and summarized from the viewpoint of the interaction between the oxide and various metal ions.