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Isotopes & Radiation
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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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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Fusion Science and Technology
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High-temperature plumbing and advanced reactors
The use of nuclear fission power and its role in impacting climate change is hotly debated. Fission advocates argue that short-term solutions would involve the rapid deployment of Gen III+ nuclear reactors, like Vogtle-3 and -4, while long-term climate change impact would rely on the creation and implementation of Gen IV reactors, “inherently safe” reactors that use passive laws of physics and chemistry rather than active controls such as valves and pumps to operate safely. While Gen IV reactors vary in many ways, one thing unites nearly all of them: the use of exotic, high-temperature coolants. These fluids, like molten salts and liquid metals, can enable reactor engineers to design much safer nuclear reactors—ultimately because the boiling point of each fluid is extremely high. Fluids that remain liquid over large temperature ranges can provide good heat transfer through many demanding conditions, all with minimal pressurization. Although the most apparent use for these fluids is advanced fission power, they have the potential to be applied to other power generation sources such as fusion, thermal storage, solar, or high-temperature process heat.1–3
Takao Kawano, Yoichi Sakuma, Masatoshi Ohta, Toshiki Kabutomori, Mamoru Shibuya
Fusion Science and Technology | Volume 41 | Number 3 | May 2002 | Pages 981-987
Purification and Chemical Process | Proceedings of the Sixth International Conference on Tritium Science and Technology Tsukuba, Japan November 12-16, 2001 | doi.org/10.13182/FST02-A22731
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
A method of decomposing hydrogen compounds was developed by employing a zirconium nickel (ZrNi) alloy. This method enables all tritium compounds (HTO, CH3T, C2H5T, etc.) in an exhaust gas to be decomposed into their respective elements, and the tritium itself to be removed in the form of hydrogen gas (HT). The method was developed through a series of experiments using methane. Using previous study results, a chemical reaction equation of methane decomposition on a ZrNi alloy is proposed and discussed. To ascertain the mechanism of methane decomposition on a ZrNi alloy, alloy samples were examined based on X-ray diffraction spectra and SEM electronographies before, during, and after the experiments. It was found that, as the decomposition time elapsed, peaks attributed to a pure ZrNi alloy gradually disappeared and new ones appeared in the X-ray spectra. The new peaks were attributed to the presence of ZrC, pure Ni, and a simple carbon substance. This indicates that the Zr in a carbon-bound alloy results in ZrC generation that releases Ni metal, and part of the C generated from the methane decomposition remains as a simple, as-grown substance. From these results, the decomposition reaction of methane using a ZrNi alloy can be represented by an equation involving the alpha value. The equation shows that one ZrNi molecule decomposes (1+ α) molecules of methane and generates 2(1+α) molecules of hydrogen. The alpha value was estimated based on the volume of decomposed methane and the weight of the ZrNi alloy used in the experiments. It is known that the alpha value is strongly dependent on the experimental conditions and can be used as an index to evaluate the decomposition condition.