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Division Spotlight
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
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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Latest News
Proving DRACO will deliver
The United States is now closer than it has been in over five decades to launching the first nuclear thermal rocket into space, thanks to DRACO—the Demonstration Rocket for Agile Cislunar Orbit.
Todd K. Campbell, Edgar Robert Gilbert, Cheryl Knox Thornhill, Bernard J. Wrona
Nuclear Technology | Volume 84 | Number 2 | February 1989 | Pages 182-195
Technical Paper | Fuel Cycle | doi.org/10.13182/NT89-A34186
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
To support dry storage technology, oxidation tests were conducted with light water reactor spent fuel. The initial rate of weight gain for spent fuel was up to 50 times greater than the initial rate for nonirradiated pellets. Spent fuel formed measurable U4O9+x particulates at weight gains significantly higher than those at which the nonirradiated pellets formed U3O8 powder. Initial test results on three types of pressurized water reactor (PWR) spent fuel indicated that fuel type had a significant influence on weight gain. Additional tests were performed at temperature levels from 135 to 230°C on fuel with burnups from 8 to 34 GWd/ tonne U irradiated in five different reactors. The tests were conducted in static air at controlled moisture levels in a 105 R/h gamma field. In the 230°C tests, weight gains for PWR and boiling water reactor (BWR) fuels exceeded 4 wt% after 4000 h of exposure. Powder formation time on BWR fuels increased with increasing burnup; weight gain magnitudes were independent of fuel burnup.
