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Meeting Spotlight
Nuclear Energy Conference & Expo (NECX)
September 8–11, 2025
Atlanta, GA|Atlanta Marriott Marquis
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 Technology
Fusion Science and Technology
July 2025
Latest News
The U.S. Million Person Study of Low-Dose-Rate Health Effects
There is a critical knowledge gap regarding the health consequences of exposure to radiation received gradually over time. While there is a plethora of studies on the risks of adverse outcomes from both acute and high-dose exposures, including the landmark study of atomic bomb survivors, these are not characteristic of the chronic exposure to low-dose radiation encountered in occupational and public settings. In addition, smaller cohorts have limited numbers leading to reduced statistical power.
D. Henderson, L. El-Guebaly, P. Wilson, A. Abdou, ARIES Team
Fusion Science and Technology | Volume 39 | Number 2 | March 2001 | Pages 444-448
Advanced Designs | doi.org/10.13182/FST01-A11963276
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
Detailed activation, decay heat and waste disposal calculations of the ARIES-AT design are performed to evaluate the safety aspects of the device. The high initial activity of the SiC highly irradiated components translates directly into a higher initial decay heat for these structures than for the well-protected steel-based components. However, after a one-hour cool-down period, the SiC decay heat drops by two decades to levels comparable to the steel-based components. The decay heat of the LiPb coolant was found to exceed that of the SiC components for several days after shutdown. This implies that a loss of flow accident (LOFA) event is more critical than a loss of coolant accident (LOCA) event for LiPb/SiC systems. Regarding waste disposal, all structures can easily meet the Class C Low-Level Waste (LLW) requirements established for the ARIES power plants. Many components could qualify as Class A LLW after a 100-year storage period after selection of low activation materials and control of the Nb and Mo impurities in ferritic steel. A purification system will be required to remove the 210Po and 203Hg generated by Pb during operation.
