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Division Spotlight
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.
Meeting Spotlight
2024 ANS Winter Conference and Expo
November 17–21, 2024
Orlando, FL|Renaissance Orlando at SeaWorld
Standards Program
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
NRC restores expiration dates for renewed Turkey Point licenses
The Nuclear Regulatory Commission announced this week that it has restored the expiration dates of the Turkey Point nuclear power plant's units 3 and 4 subsequent license renewals (SLR) to July 19, 2052, and April 10, 2053, respectively.
S. Le Tacon, A. Brodier, C. Chicanne, M. Theobald
Fusion Science and Technology | Volume 70 | Number 2 | August-September 2016 | Pages 351-357
Technical Paper | doi.org/10.13182/FST15-240
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
Some experiments implemented on the Laser Megajoule facility (LMJ) require the use of the rare-earth (RE) elements, the lanthanides (57 < Z < 71). Rare-earth metals are known to be unstable under atmospheric conditions and some of them are extremely reactive with air. They may react with oxygen and humidity to form RE oxides. In the present work, we study the oxidation of different RE thin films (gadolinium, dysprosium, and praseodymium) prepared by physical vapor deposition. Energy-dispersion spectroscopy, scanning electron microscopy, Rutherford backscattering spectroscopy, and weight measurement are performed to characterize the corrosion mechanisms as a function of time and aging atmospheres (air, dry box, and vacuum). It appears that the oxidation kinetics depends on atomic number and microstructure of the films. Praseodymium coatings are very quickly corroded (in a few hours) when exposed to air and degrade to a yellow powder. Aluminum layers, used as a diffusion barrier, allow us to preserve praseodymium coatings over a period of several weeks when aging in a dry box. Gadolinium and dysprosium coatings (without a protective layer) are preserved from corrosion due to the formation of a passivation layer on their surface. Whatever Z, a dense microstructure permits us to limit the oxygen content and allows us to stabilize the residual stress.