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Fuel Cycle & Waste Management
Devoted to all aspects of the nuclear fuel cycle including waste management, worldwide. Division specific areas of interest and involvement include uranium conversion and enrichment; fuel fabrication, management (in-core and ex-core) and recycle; transportation; safeguards; high-level, low-level and mixed waste management and disposal; public policy and program management; decontamination and decommissioning environmental restoration; and excess weapons materials disposition.
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2025 ANS Annual Conference
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Chicago, IL|Chicago Marriott Downtown
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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
Latest News
Smarter waste strategies: Helping deliver on the promise of advanced nuclear
At COP28, held in Dubai in 2023, a clear consensus emerged: Nuclear energy must be a cornerstone of the global clean energy transition. With electricity demand projected to soar as we decarbonize not just power but also industry, transport, and heat, the case for new nuclear is compelling. More than 20 countries committed to tripling global nuclear capacity by 2050. In the United States alone, the Department of Energy forecasts that the country’s current nuclear capacity could more than triple, adding 200 GW of new nuclear to the existing 95 GW by mid-century.
H. Y. Khater, M. E. Sawan, I. N. Sviatoslavsky, L. J. Wittenberg
Fusion Science and Technology | Volume 21 | Number 3 | May 1992 | Pages 2023-2028
Safety, Recycling, and Waste Management | doi.org/10.13182/FST92-A30018
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
Activation and safety analysis has been performed for the chamber, shield and Li2O coolant of the inertial confinement fusion (IFE) reactor SOMBRERO. The total activities generated in the reactor graphite chamber and steel-reinforced concrete shield at shutdown are 0.054 and 10.12 MCi, respectively. The biological dose rate at the back of the shield drops to 1.6 mrem/hr after one day of shutdown allowing for hands-on maintenance. Radwaste classification has shown that both the chamber and shield would easily qualify as Class A low level waste (LLW) according to the 10CFR61 waste disposal concentration limits (WDL). At the same time, the Li2O granules would qualify as Class C LLW. The maximum public dose from atmospheric effluents is 0.93 mrem/yr. The dose is due to tritium and its maximum value occurs at the reactor site boundary which is 1 km away from the point of tritium release. Only a small fraction (0.44%) of the graphite first wall would be mobilized during a loss of coolant accident (LOCA). During such an accident, the shield temperature would only increase by a few degrees releasing a very small fraction of its radioactive inventory. The total tritium inventory in the containment building which is assumed to be released at the onset of a severe accident is 182.6 grams. The estimated whole body (WB) early dose from a severe accident resulting in the failure of the reactor containment is 2.22 rem. The very low off-site dose eliminates the need for N-stamp nuclear grade components in SOMBRERO.
