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Radiation Protection & Shielding
The Radiation Protection and Shielding Division is developing and promoting radiation protection and shielding aspects of nuclear science and technology — including interaction of nuclear radiation with materials and biological systems, instruments and techniques for the measurement of nuclear radiation fields, and radiation shield design and evaluation.
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2024 ANS Annual Conference
June 16–19, 2024
Las Vegas, NV|Mandalay Bay Resort and Casino
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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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Commercial nuclear innovation "new space" age
In early 2006, a start-up company launched a small rocket from a tiny island in the Pacific. It exploded, showering the island with debris. A year later, a second launch attempt sent a rocket to space but failed to make orbit, burning up in the atmosphere. Another year brought a third attempt—and a third failure. The following month, in September 2008, the company used the last of its funds to launch a fourth rocket. It reached orbit, making history as the first privately funded liquid-fueled rocket to do so.
Shinji Yasui, Tadashi Amakawa
Nuclear Technology | Volume 141 | Number 2 | February 2003 | Pages 167-176
Technical Paper | Radioactive Waste Management and Disposal | doi.org/10.13182/NT03-A3358
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
The vaporization phenomena of cesium (Cs) from molten slag have been investigated in a plasma melting process for simulated radioactive waste materials. A direct current transfer-type plasma with a maximum output of 50 kW was used to melt carbon steel and granular oxide mixtures (Fe2O3, Al2O3, SiO2, CaO, and MgO) containing nonradioactive cesium nitrate, to measure Cs vaporization. These materials are the main components of low-level miscellaneous solid wastes. The vaporization rate of Cs from the molten slag during the plasma melting was observed and was compared with the vaporization rate obtained in an electric resistance furnace. The apparent vaporization rate of Cs was found to follow the first-order rate equation with respect to the molten slag's Cs content, and its rate constant values varied (3.5 to 21.0) × 10-6 m/s varying with the chemical composition of the miscellaneous solid wastes. These rate constants were about one order larger than those obtained in the electric resistant furnace and also the diffusion coefficients of basic elements in the molten slag. These results suggest that the vaporization rate of Cs is controlled by the vaporization step from the free molten slag furnace to the gas phase and depends predominantly on the thermodynamic properties of the molten slag.