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Nuclear Criticality Safety
NCSD provides communication among nuclear criticality safety professionals through the development of standards, the evolution of training methods and materials, the presentation of technical data and procedures, and the creation of specialty publications. In these ways, the division furthers the exchange of technical information on nuclear criticality safety with the ultimate goal of promoting the safe handling of fissionable materials outside reactors.
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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
A.G. Heics, W.T. Shmayda
Fusion Science and Technology | Volume 28 | Number 3 | October 1995 | Pages 1509-1514
Tritium Waste Management and Discharge Control | 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-A30626
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
An upgraded version of a metal hydride based clean-up systema for tritium gloveboxes has been recently designed. An earlier version of a prototypical, recirculating system has been under evaluation in tritium service at OHT for nearly 2 years. A metal getter alloy, Zr2Fe, is used to remove tritium and trace impurities from inert and nitrogen glovebox cover gas. The second generation SEC system features several notable improvements over its predecessor in areas of gas conductance, process instrumentation for tritium and moisture detection, and operator interface. A second bed has been added to enhance the removal of tritium and impurities. The system is controlled by computer programmed to automatically maintain the glovebox pressure, temperature and the impurity level of the glovebox cover gas, and to respond effectively to upset conditions by corrective action and to alarm the off-normal condition. The lifetime of the metal alloy getter is affected by the presence of impurities, notably moisture, which dictates the need to ensure system leak tightness. For example, the tritium concentration at the bed outlet will rise by approximately one order of magnitude as a result of introducing a continuous moisture load of 5 ppmv for 6 months while maintaining a flow rate of 2 L/s. The second generation system will be commissioned with tritium during 1995. a Metal hydride based clean-up systems utilize a metal getter. A metal hydride is a binary metallic compound or mixture produced when hydrogen is brought into contact with a metal.
