ANS is committed to advancing, fostering, and promoting the development and application of nuclear sciences and technologies to benefit society.
Explore the many uses for nuclear science and its impact on energy, the environment, healthcare, food, and more.
Explore membership for yourself or for your organization.
Conference Spotlight
2026 ANS Annual Conference
May 31–June 3, 2026
Denver, CO|Sheraton Denver
Latest Magazine Issues
May 2026
Jan 2026
2026
Latest Journal Issues
Nuclear Science and Engineering
June 2026
Nuclear Technology
Fusion Science and Technology
Latest News
WIPP: Lessons in transportation safety
As part of a future consent-based approach by the federal government to site new deep geologic repositories for nuclear waste, local communities and states that are considering hosting such facilities are sure to have many questions. Currently, the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant in New Mexico is the only example of such a repository in operation, and it offers the opportunity for state and local officials to visit and judge for themselves the risks and benefits of hosting a similar facility. But its history can also provide lessons for these officials, particularly the political process leading up to the opening of WIPP, the safety of WIPP operations and transportation of waste from generator facilities to the site, and the economic impacts the project has had on the local area of Carlsbad, as well as the rest of the state of New Mexico.
Ryoichi Kurihara, Shuzo Ueda, Eisuke Tada
Fusion Science and Technology | Volume 30 | Number 3 | December 1996 | Pages 1465-1469
Safety and Environment | doi.org/10.13182/FST96-A11963155
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
A vacuum vessel wall with a postulated crack is modeled by using the two-dimensional solid finite elements. The J-integral value, a criterion of fracture mechanics, is calculated to estimate the integrity of the vacuum vessel wall with a postulated crack.
The analytical results show that the J-integral value of a crack having a quarter depth of the wall width is considerably less than the fracture toughness JIC when the membrane stress is less than the 0.2% proof stress of the unirradiated material, even if the vacuum vessel is irradiated to 3 dpa. This means that a shallow crack in the vacuum vessel wall does not become critical in the design load.
