ANS is committed to advancing, fostering, and promoting the development and application of nuclear sciences and technologies to benefit society.
Explore the many uses for nuclear science and its impact on energy, the environment, healthcare, food, and more.
Explore membership for yourself or for your organization.
Conference Spotlight
2026 ANS Annual Conference
May 31–June 3, 2026
Denver, CO|Sheraton Denver
Latest Magazine Issues
Mar 2026
Jan 2026
Latest Journal Issues
Nuclear Science and Engineering
April 2026
Nuclear Technology
February 2026
Fusion Science and Technology
Latest News
GAO: Clarification of HLW definition could save DOE billions
A clearer definition of what constitutes high-level radioactive waste could save the Department of Energy’s Office of Environmental Management “tens of billions of dollars” in waste management costs and accelerate its cleanup schedule by decades, according to a report by the U.S. Government Accountability Office.
DOE-EM’s efforts to manage waste resulting from legacy spent nuclear fuel reprocessing have been hindered for decades by the ambiguity of the statutory definition of HLW as laid out in the Atomic Energy Act and Nuclear Waste Policy Act, the report states. While admitting that the DOE has taken steps to overcome this ambiguity, the GAO says that the department has not fully evaluated all available opportunities to treat and dispose of waste more economically as either transuranic or low-level radioactive waste.
Sang Ji Kim, Yonghee Kim, Sergi Hong, Chung Ho Cho, Jae-Hyuk Eoh, Jong Bum Kim, Myung Hwan Wi, Kwi Seok Ha, Eui Kwang Kim
Nuclear Technology | Volume 170 | Number 1 | April 2010 | Pages 148-158
Technical Paper | Special Issue on the 2008 International Congress on Advances in Nuclear Power Plants / Fission Reactors | doi.org/10.13182/NT10-A9453
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
The conceptual design of a 900-MW(thermal) lead-cooled fast reactor (LFR) system for transuranic element (TRU) burning is developed and analyzed using TRU-U-Zr metallic alloy fuel. The design and analysis areas covered are neutronics design, thermal-hydraulic analysis, thermal system design, system mechanical design and analysis, system arrangement, passive decay heat removal system evaluation, and safety analysis for anticipated transient without scram (ATWS) events. Design challenges, solutions, and further research and development items during the conceptual design are described in this paper. Large burnup reactivity swing inherent in the transmutation reactor and irradiation damage to the cladding by high fast neutron fluence are overcome by filling in boron carbide within the tie rods with axial cutbacks. The lead coolant in the reactor pool was estimated to lead to a maximum stress of 125 MPa in the containment vessel. For the long-term cooling behavior upon the concurrent occurrences of a loss of heat sink and a loss of flow, the hot pool temperature is maintained below the design limit of 650°C, which is achieved by an improved decay heat removal design with heat transfer enhancement mechanisms. Analyses of the ATWSs in the investigated core do not reveal any problem from the viewpoints of fuel temperature, cladding temperature, and hot pool temperature. In conclusion, the 900-MW(thermal) LFR system in this study does not pose any significant design-related concerns except for a marginal seismic loading due to the large coolant mass and a verification of the newly introduced design resolutions for long-term decay heat removal.