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Members are devoted to applying nuclear science and engineering technologies involving isotopes, radiation applications, and associated equipment in scientific research, development, and industrial processes. Their interests lie primarily in education, industrial uses, biology, medicine, and health physics. Division committees include Analytical Applications of Isotopes and Radiation, Biology and Medicine, Radiation Applications, Radiation Sources and Detection, and Thermal Power Sources.
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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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The busyness of the nuclear fuel supply chain
Ken Petersenpresident@ans.org
With all that is happening in the industry these days, the nuclear fuel supply chain is still a hot topic. The Russian assault in Ukraine continues to upend the “where” and “how” of attaining nuclear fuel—and it has also motivated U.S. legislators to act.
Two years into the Russian war with Ukraine, things are different. The Inflation Reduction Act was passed in 2022, authorizing $700 million in funding to support production of high-assay low-enriched uranium in the United States. Meanwhile, the Department of Energy this January issued a $500 million request for proposals to stimulate new HALEU production. The Emergency National Security Supplemental Appropriations Act of 2024 includes $2.7 billion in funding for new uranium enrichment production. This funding was diverted from the Civil Nuclear Credits program and will only be released if there is a ban on importing Russian uranium into the United States—which could happen by the time this column is published, as legislation that bans Russian uranium has passed the House as of this writing and is headed for the Senate. Also being considered is legislation that would sanction Russian uranium. Alternatively, the Biden-Harris administration may choose to ban Russian uranium without legislation in order to obtain access to the $2.7 billion in funding.
Naphtali M. Mokgalapa, Tushar K. Ghosh, Robert V. Tompson, Sudarshan K. Loyalka
Nuclear Technology | Volume 194 | Number 3 | June 2016 | Pages 353-368
Technical Paper | doi.org/10.13182/NT15-106
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
A methodology is developed to measure the adhesion force and the work of adhesion between aerosols generated in very-high-temperature reactors (VHTRs) and interacting with structural materials. The method uses an interactive system of a silver particle interacting with Haynes 230 (H230) surfaces, compares the measured data with theoretical values, and uses an atomic force microscope in an air environment glove box with ambient temperature of 20.27°C and relative humidity of 34.97%. The adhesion force data are obtained for a silver particle interacting with H230 under four different surface conditions including “as received” and after oxidation for 5, 10, and 15 min, respectively. It was found that the JKR (Johnson-Kendall-Roberts) theory predicted values that were up to three orders of magnitude higher than the experimental data. In contrast, the inclusion of surface roughness from both the particle and H230 samples in the calculations produced results that are one order of magnitude higher than the experimental data. These comparisons provide insight into the significant influence that surface roughness has on adhesion force. A range of values of 0.02 to 0.3 μN was obtained from the adhesion force distributions of measured data that can be used as bounds on forces that can be produced in a silver-H230 interactive system.