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The Radiation Protection and Shielding Division is developing and promoting radiation protection and shielding aspects of nuclear science and technology — including interaction of nuclear radiation with materials and biological systems, instruments and techniques for the measurement of nuclear radiation fields, and radiation shield design and evaluation.
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Nuclear Energy Conference & Expo (NECX)
September 8–11, 2025
Atlanta, GA|Atlanta Marriott Marquis
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Latest News
Take steps on SNF and HLW disposal
Matt Bowen
With a new administration and Congress, it is time once again to ponder what will happen—if anything—on U.S. spent nuclear fuel and high-level waste management policy over the next few years. One element of the forthcoming discussion seems clear: The executive and legislative branches are eager to talk about recycling commercial SNF. Whatever the merits of doing so, it does not obviate the need for one or more facilities for disposal of remaining long-lived radionuclides. For that reason, making progress on U.S. disposal capabilities remains urgent, lest the associated radionuclide inventories simply be left for future generations to deal with.
In March, Rick Perry, who was secretary of energy during President Trump’s first administration, observed that during his tenure at the Department of Energy it became clear to him that any plan to move SNF “required some practical consent of the receiving state and local community.”1
M.I. Balonov, G. Ya. Bruk, T.V. Zhesko
Fusion Science and Technology | Volume 28 | Number 3 | October 1995 | Pages 809-813
Tritium Safety | Proceedings of the Fifth Topical Meeting on Tritium Technology in Fission, Fusion, and Isotopic Applications Belgirate, Italy May 28-June 3, 1995 | doi.org/10.13182/FST95-A30504
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
Specific features of metabolism of different classes of tritium compounds have been studied in experiments with rats and mice. The results indicated the value of intracellular content of water is by 15–40% less than the average content of water in the whole tissue. Protracted retention in lungs of particles of luminous compounds and Ti tritide inhalated or introduced into trachea was shown. So, the particles are assigned to class Y according to ICRP. Foreign low-molecular organic tritium compounds are effectively excreted with urine. Biogenic tritium compounds are bound in tissues at synthesis of biopolymers in dependence on need of body in them. According to our experiments, 1 to 90 % of tritium is separated from all incorporated compounds into body water in the form of HTO. The obtained metabolic data along with results of new radiobiological experiments on mice for RBE and biogenic tritium compounds effectiveness were the basis for development and introduction in Russia of standards for insoluble and biogenic tritium compounds and separately - for labelled precursors of nucleic acids.