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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.”
Ronald I. Ewing, Michael A. Butler, James E. Schirber, D. S. Ginley
Fusion Science and Technology | Volume 16 | Number 3 | November 1989 | Pages 404-407
Special Section Content | Cold Fusion Technical Notes | doi.org/10.13182/FST89-A29135
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
A search for neutrons from deuterium “cold fusion” systems (both electrochemical and high-pressure gas cells) was conducted in an underground laboratory using three highly sensitive neutron detectors composed of 3He gas proportional counter tubes embedded in polyethylene moderators. Any neutron emission from a test cell would be simultaneously observed in all three detectors in a known proportion. The counting system can detect random, continuous emission at a rate of <100 n/h, and short bursts of as few as 35 neutrons. None of the cold fusion systems tested emitted neutrons at these levels. Occasional anomalous groups of counts were observed in individual detectors that closely mimicked both continuous and burst emission. These anomalies were identified as spurious detector artifacts rather than true detection, because counts were not observed in the appropriate proportion in all three detectors. The use of multiple detectors simultaneously observing the test system in a very low background environment can effectively identify spurious artifacts that might otherwise be interpreted as evidence of neutron emission and may be essential to the demonstration of low-level neutron production from cold fusion systems.