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Division Spotlight
Decommissioning & Environmental Sciences
The mission of the Decommissioning and Environmental Sciences (DES) Division is to promote the development and use of those skills and technologies associated with the use of nuclear energy and the optimal management and stewardship of the environment, sustainable development, decommissioning, remediation, reutilization, and long-term surveillance and maintenance of nuclear-related installations, and sites. The target audience for this effort is the membership of the Division, the Society, and the public at large.
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
How robust is HALEU from a nonproliferation perspective?
Shikha Prasad
High-assay low-enriched uranium (HALEU) has emerged as a popular fuel choice for advanced small modular reactors due to its long power production periods before refueling. It is currently being pursued by TerraPower, X-energy, BWX Technologies, Kairos, Oklo, and other reactor companies. HALEU has a uranium-235 enrichment ranging from 5 percent to 20 percent, whereas traditional LWRs use low-enriched uranium fuel enriched up to 5 percent.
HALEU will provide power for longer durations, compared with traditional LWRs. But could it also provide an opportunity for more rapid proliferation, as is speculated in a 2023 National Academy of Sciences report on advanced nuclear reactors (nap.nationalacademies.org/catalog/26630/)?
If a nuclear proliferator conspires to divert fresh nuclear fuel for weapons production when it has not been used in a reactor, the effort required in separative work units (SWUs) to enrich U-235 from 5 percent to 90 percent and that required to enrich from 20 percent to 90 percent are both very small, compared with the effort required to enrich U-235 from its natural abundance to the initial 5 percent.
Technical Session|Sponsored by Evolution of Material Properties
Monday, December 11, 2023|1:00–2:40PM CST|Galerie 1
Session Chair:
Stuart A. Maloy (PNNL)
Alternate Chair:
Thak Sang Byun (ORNL)
Track Organizers:
Gary Was (Univ. Michigan)
Dong Liu (University of Bristol)
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Effect of Electron Beam Welding on RPV Steel Microstructural Evolution
1:00–1:20PM CST
G. Nemets (Purdue), E.H. Marrero (Purdue), J. Emerson (Purdue), J. Herrema (Purdue), Z. Shang (Purdue), M. Okuniewski (Purdue), J.P. Wharry (Purdue)
Paper
Radiation Induced Segregation in Titanium Boride
1:20–1:40PM CST
S. Wei (Univ. Wisconsin, Madison), M.W. Qureshi (Univ. Wisconsin, Madison), H. Zhang (Fudan Univ.), I. Szlufarska (Univ. Wisconsin, Madison)
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