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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
Conference on Nuclear Training and Education: A Biennial International Forum (CONTE 2023)
February 6–9, 2023
Amelia Island, FL|Omni Amelia Island Resort
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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Nuclear Science and Engineering
February 2023
Nuclear Technology
Fusion Science and Technology
Latest News
A review of workforce trends in the nuclear community
The nuclear community is undergoing a moment of unprecedented interest and growth not seen in decades. The passage of the bipartisan Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act and the Inflation Reduction Act are providing a multitude of new funding opportunities for the nuclear community, and not just the current fleet. A mix of technologies and reactor types are being evaluated and deployed, with Vogtle Units 3 and 4 coming on line later this year, the Advanced Reactor Demonstration Projects of X-energy and TerraPower, and NuScale’s work with Utah Associated Municipal Power Systems to build a first-of-a-kind small modular reactor, making this is an exciting time to join the nuclear workforce.
Gregg A. Morgan, Brittany J. Hodge, Anita S. Poore
Fusion Science and Technology | Volume 72 | Number 3 | October 2017 | Pages 426-433
Technical Paper | doi.org/10.1080/15361055.2017.1333858
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
A prototype Pd-Ag diffuser manufactured by Power and Energy was evaluated for performance characterization testing at the Savannah River National Laboratory (SRNL). The prototype Pd-Ag diffuser was characterized to determine the overall performance as a function of the permeation of hydrogen through the membrane. The tests described in this report consider the effects of feed gas compositions, feed flow rates, pump type and internal tube pressure on the permeation of H2 through the Pd-Ag tubes.
For the 96% H2/4% N2 mixtures, nearly all of the H2 permeated through the membrane at flow rates up to 3000 sccm. However, results for the 50% H2/50% N2 composition show that 100% permeation is only achieved up to a flow rate of 1000 sccm. A significant reduction in the hydrogen permeation was observed for the 2% H2/98% N2 composition. This Pd-Ag diffuser design is not suitable for a tritium purification system within the fusion energy fuel cycle. Typical tritium purification systems can be expected to see a range of hydrogen isotope concentrations and this particular prototype diffuser is only suitable for process streams containing high concentrations of hydrogen isotopes.
Significant efforts should be undertaken to identify additional commercial vendors for Pd-Ag diffusers. It is of critical importance to identify, procure, and test different Pd-Ag designs that can perform well over a range of hydrogen isotope concentrations for tritium gas processing applications.