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Latest News
DOE announces NEPA exclusion for advanced reactors
The Department of Energy has announced that it is establishing a categorical exclusion for the application of National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) procedures to the authorization, siting, construction, operation, reauthorization, and decommissioning of advanced nuclear reactors.
According to the DOE, this significant change, which goes into effect today, “is based on the experience of DOE and other federal agencies, current technologies, regulatory requirements, and accepted industry practice.”
Howard L. Heinisch, Frederick M. Mann, Donald G. Doran
Fusion Science and Technology | Volume 8 | Number 3 | November 1985 | Pages 2704-2707
Technical Paper | First-Wall Technology | doi.org/10.13182/FST85-A24691
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
Activation calculations were performed f or 27 elements in the STARFIRE, Mirror Advanced Reactor Study (MARS), and GA Technologies, Inc. (GA) conceptual reactor first-wall neutron spectra. In all the spectra, seven of the elements (nitrogen, aluminum, nickel, molybdenum, copper, niobium, and lead) required restrictions on their concentration in a material in order to meet current regulations for near-surface radioactive waste disposal. For nickel, molybdenum, and niobium in the spectra of MARS and GA, however, the activation levels are two to five times lower than in STARFIRE. Multistep reactions were found to have only a small effect on the limits for these seven elements.