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Nuclear Installations Safety
Devoted specifically to the safety of nuclear installations and the health and safety of the public, this division seeks a better understanding of the role of safety in the design, construction and operation of nuclear installation facilities. The division also promotes engineering and scientific technology advancement associated with the safety of such facilities.
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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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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?
T. A. Taiwo, T. K. Kim, J. A. Stillman, R. N. Hill, M. Salvatores, P. J. Finck
Nuclear Technology | Volume 155 | Number 1 | July 2006 | Pages 34-54
Technical Paper | Fuel Cycle and Management | doi.org/10.13182/NT06-A3744
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
Options for both full and partial transuranics (TRU) recycle in pressurized water reactors with a heterogeneous assembly design have been assessed. The impacts of these options on proliferation resistance, fuel handling, and repository performance were evaluated. The results indicate that the option of all-TRU recycle is the one most beneficial for the repository and nonproliferation, but this option also results in the most problems for fuel handling at the fabrication stage as a result of the high spontaneous fission neutron emission rate. Recycling americium in the fuel cycle provides significant benefits for both nonproliferation and repository performance over that obtained with plutonium-only recycling. Coupling americium recycling in the fuel cycle with storage of curium is an option that appears promising, if an appropriate solution for curium storage is found. Results for the various performance indices suggest that at least seven recycles of the TRU can be performed using the heterogeneous assembly design, provided remote handling of fuel is a price that is acceptable for the transmutation mission. Three recycles with an extended cooling interval prior to loading in advanced reactor transmutation systems is another option; the delay time provided by this campaign could be used to develop and deploy the advanced systems.