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Meeting Spotlight
Nuclear Energy Conference & Expo (NECX)
September 8–11, 2025
Atlanta, GA|Atlanta Marriott Marquis
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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Fusion Science and Technology
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The U.S. Million Person Study of Low-Dose-Rate Health Effects
There is a critical knowledge gap regarding the health consequences of exposure to radiation received gradually over time. While there is a plethora of studies on the risks of adverse outcomes from both acute and high-dose exposures, including the landmark study of atomic bomb survivors, these are not characteristic of the chronic exposure to low-dose radiation encountered in occupational and public settings. In addition, smaller cohorts have limited numbers leading to reduced statistical power.
J. A. Blink, G. P. Lasche
Fusion Science and Technology | Volume 4 | Number 2 | September 1983 | Pages 1146-1151
Environment and Safety | doi.org/10.13182/FST83-A23013
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
Five steels (PCA, HT-9, thermally stabilized 2.25 Cr-1 Mo, Nb stabilized 2.25 Cr-1 Mo, and 2.25 Cr-1 V) are compared as a function of time from the viewpoints of activation, afterheat, inhalation biological hazard potential (BHP), ingestion BHP, and feasibility of disposal by shallow land burial. An additional case uses the 2.25 Cr-1 V steel with a liquid metal wall (LMW) protective shield between the neutron source and the wall. (This geometry is feasible for inertial confinement fusion reactors.) The PCA steel is the worst choice and the LMW protected 2.25 Cr-1 V is the best choice by substantial margins from all five viewpoints. The HT-9 and two versions of 2.25 Cr-1 Mo are roughly the same at intermediate values. The 2.25 Cr-1 V has about the same afterheat as those three steels, but its waste disposal feasibility is considerably better. Under NRC's proposed low level waste disposal rule (10CFR61), only the 2.25 Cr-1 V could be considered low level waste suitable for shallow land burial.