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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.
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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.
Lars Marklund, Anders Wörman, Joel Geier, Eva Simic, Björn Dverstorp
Nuclear Technology | Volume 163 | Number 1 | July 2008 | Pages 165-179
Technical Paper | High-Level Radioactive Waste Management | doi.org/10.13182/NT08-A3979
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
The topographical driving forces for groundwater on different spatial scales in several ways influence the performance of a repository for nuclear waste located at large depth in crystalline bedrock. We show that the relation between local topographical characteristics (topographical steepness and wavelengths) in the area of a repository (kilometer scale) and the large-scale (hundreds of kilometers) surroundings, together with repository depth, are the primary controls of residence time distributions and the discharge pattern of radionuclides released from an underground repository. In addition, the topography affects the groundwater flow at repository depth and, therefore, influences the long-time degradation of the repository. In the areas studied, all located in Sweden, the local topography mainly controls the groundwater flow down to a depth of ~500 m, which is the suggested depth of the Swedish repository. The importance of the large-scale topography increases with depth but even at depth where local-scale topography is dominant, the continental-scale topography affects length and depth of flowpaths as well as groundwater velocities. The impact of large-scale topography is particularly clear in areas where the steepness of local-scale landforms is relatively small. The study also shows that quaternary deposits (bedrock overburden) may have a significant impact on the overall residence times in the underground because of their hydraulic and sorption properties. This effect is further enhanced by the fact that flow paths originating from repository depth generally emerge in topographical lows with relatively deep layers of quaternary deposits. The findings of this study underscore the need to consider multiscale topographical characteristics as well as bedrock overburden in assessments of radiological consequences of underground repositories.