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Division Spotlight
Robotics & Remote Systems
The Mission of the Robotics and Remote Systems Division is to promote the development and application of immersive simulation, robotics, and remote systems for hazardous environments for the purpose of reducing hazardous exposure to individuals, reducing environmental hazards and reducing the cost of performing work.
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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Can hydrogen be the transportation fuel in an otherwise nuclear economy?
Let’s face it: The global economy should be powered primarily by nuclear power. And it probably will by the end of this century, with a still-significant assist from renewables and hydro. Once nuclear systems are dominant, the costs come down to where gas is now; and when carbon emissions are reduced to a small portion of their present state, it will become obvious that most other sources are only good in niche settings. I mean, why use small modular reactors to load-follow when they can just produce that power instead of buffering it?
A. C. Morreale, M. R. Ball, D. R. Novog, J. C. Luxat
Nuclear Technology | Volume 183 | Number 1 | July 2013 | Pages 30-44
Technical Paper | Fuel Cycle and Management | doi.org/10.13182/NT13-A16990
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
The production of transuranic actinide fuels for use in current thermal reactors provides a useful intermediary step in closing the nuclear fuel cycle. Extraction of actinides reduces the longevity, radiation, and heat loads of spent material. The burning of transuranic (TRU) fuels in current reactors for a limited amount of cycles reduces the infrastructure demand for fast reactors and provides an effective synergy that can result in a reduction of as much as 95% of spent fuel waste while significantly reducing the fast reactor infrastructure needed. This paper examines the features of actinide mixed-oxide (MOX) fuel, TRUMOX, in a CANDU® nuclear reactor. The actinide concentrations used were based on extraction from 30-year-cooled spent fuel and mixed with natural uranium in 3.1 wt% actinide MOX fuel. Full lattice cell modeling was performed using the WIMS-AECL code, supercell calculations were analyzed in DRAGON, and full-core analysis was executed in the RFSP two-group diffusion code. A time-average full-core model was produced and analyzed for reactor coefficients, reactivity device worth, and online fueling impacts. The standard CANDU operational limits were maintained throughout operations. The TRUMOX fuel design achieved a burnup of 29.91 MWd/kg heavy element and an actinide transmutation rate of 35% for a single pass. A fully TRUMOX-fueled CANDU was shown to operate within acceptable limits and provided a viable intermediary step for burning actinides. The recycling, reprocessing, and reuse of spent fuels produces a much more sustainable and efficient nuclear fuel cycle.