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Division Spotlight
Robotics & Remote Systems
The Mission of the Robotics and Remote Systems Division is to promote the development and application of immersive simulation, robotics, and remote systems for hazardous environments for the purpose of reducing hazardous exposure to individuals, reducing environmental hazards and reducing the cost of performing work.
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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May 2024
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Nuclear Science and Engineering
June 2024
Nuclear Technology
Fusion Science and Technology
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 Fuels and Actinide Materials
Tuesday, December 12, 2023|1:00–2:40PM CST|Galerie 3
Session Chair:
Luca Capriotti (INL)
Alternate Chair:
Michael R. Tonks (Univ. Florida)
Track Organizers:
Assel Aitkaliyeva (Univ. Florida)
Jian Gan (INL)
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Effects of Lanthanides on Phase Distribution in As-Cast Unirradiated U-Pu-Zr Metallic Fuel
1:00–1:20PM CST
M. Mika (Univ. Florida), A. Aitkaliyeva (Univ. Florida)
Paper
Stability and Diffusion of Lanthanide Fission Products in HCP Zirconium Revealed by Density Functional Theory Calculations
1:20–1:40PM CST
Shehab Shousha (NCSU), Benjamin Beeler (NCSU), Maria Okuniewski (Purdue)
In-situ TEM Studies of Microstructural and Phase Evolution in Metallic Fuel Alloys
1:40–2:00PM CST
Fidelma G. Di Lemma (INL), S. Vajayan (Michigan Tech Univ.), D. Salvato (INL), K.D. Wright (INL), L.R. Hawkins (INL), K.K. Bawane (INL), L. Capriotti (INL), T. Yao (INL)
Localized Composition of Constituent Redistribution Regions in a Neutron Irradiated U-10wt.%Zr Fuel
2:00–2:20PM CST
N. Rodriguez Perez (Purdue), J. Thomas (Purdue), M.A. Okuniewski (Purdue)
Correlating Constituent Redistribution and Fission Gas Bubble Structures in Irradiated U-Zr Fuels
2:20–2:40PM CST
Assel Aitkaliyeva (Univ. Florida), Mitch Mika (Univ. Florida), Mary Sevart (Univ. Florida), Fei Xu (INL), Tiankai Yao (INL), Luca Capriotti (INL)
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