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Division Spotlight
Education, Training & Workforce Development
The Education, Training & Workforce Development Division provides communication among the academic, industrial, and governmental communities through the exchange of views and information on matters related to education, training and workforce development in nuclear and radiological science, engineering, and technology. Industry leaders, education and training professionals, and interested students work together through Society-sponsored meetings and publications, to enrich their professional development, to educate the general public, and to advance nuclear and radiological science and engineering.
Meeting Spotlight
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
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.
Leah Spradley, Mark Abkowitz, James H. Clarke
Nuclear Technology | Volume 169 | Number 2 | February 2010 | Pages 180-194
Technical Paper | Radioactive Waste Management and Disposal | doi.org/10.13182/NT10-A9361
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
This paper focuses on how variations in commercial spent nuclear fuel shipment schedules have the potential to impact preclosure operations at the proposed repository for high-level waste at Yucca Mountain (YM) in Nevada. The analysis employs a simulation tool developed by the authors for modeling the packaging and thermal characteristics of the waste stream arriving at Yucca Mountain and is related to a study on the safety of the surface facilities that was also conducted by the authors using the simulation tool. The objective of the research is to gain a better understanding of how waste-stream variations affect surface facility throughput, defined as the rate at which packages are prepared for aging or emplacement in the surface facilities at YM. The basis for and adequacy of the preliminary surface facility throughput requirements are reviewed by evaluating throughput performance subject to various preclosure operating scenarios.Results indicate that under most scenarios, the preliminary design adequately accommodates the mean demand over the operating lifetime for the canister receipt and closure facility (CRCF) and receipt facility (RF) but not the wet handling facility (WHF). While results indicate that WHF demand is likely to be higher than capacity in many scenarios, it seems reasonable that dual-purpose cask and truck deliveries could be deferred to maintain WHF operations at near-capacity levels.Results also show a high potential for variability in annual throughput demand at the CRCF and RF that might result in system backups. In the event of bottlenecks, the facility with less demand can fulfill functional roles of one that is overburdened. The overlap of functional capability in facilities incorporates flexibility into the system. However, since throughput targets are named per facility, as opposed to functions of the system, the design goals of the system as a whole are obscured. An alternative design is proposed that is based on functional goals within the facilities, along with other recommendations.