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Nuclear Nonproliferation Policy
The mission of the Nuclear Nonproliferation Policy Division (NNPD) is to promote the peaceful use of nuclear technology while simultaneously preventing the diversion and misuse of nuclear material and technology through appropriate safeguards and security, and promotion of nuclear nonproliferation policies. To achieve this mission, the objectives of the NNPD are to: Promote policy that discourages the proliferation of nuclear technology and material to inappropriate entities. Provide information to ANS members, the technical community at large, opinion leaders, and decision makers to improve their understanding of nuclear nonproliferation issues. Become a recognized technical resource on nuclear nonproliferation, safeguards, and security issues. Serve as the integration and coordination body for nuclear nonproliferation activities for the ANS. Work cooperatively with other ANS divisions to achieve these objective nonproliferation policies.
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2024 ANS Annual Conference
June 16–19, 2024
Las Vegas, NV|Mandalay Bay Resort and Casino
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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
Glass strategy: Hanford’s enhanced waste glass program
The mission of the Department of Energy’s Office of River Protection (ORP) is to complete the safe cleanup of waste resulting from decades of nuclear weapons development. One of the most technologically challenging responsibilities is the safe disposition of approximately 56 million gallons of radioactive waste historically stored in 177 tanks at the Hanford Site in Washington state.
ORP has a clear incentive to reduce the overall mission duration and cost. One pathway is to develop and deploy innovative technical solutions that can advance baseline flow sheets toward higher efficiency operations while reducing identified risks without compromising safety. Vitrification is the baseline process that will convert both high-level and low-level radioactive waste at Hanford into a stable glass waste form for long-term storage and disposal.
Although vitrification is a mature technology, there are key areas where technology can further reduce operational risks, advance baseline processes to maximize waste throughput, and provide the underpinning to enhance operational flexibility; all steps in reducing mission duration and cost.
M. Khalid Hossain, Kenichi Hashizume, Shinnosuke Jo, Kaname Kawaguchi, Yuji Hatano
Fusion Science and Technology | Volume 76 | Number 4 | May 2020 | Pages 553-566
Technical Paper | doi.org/10.1080/15361055.2020.1728173
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
Hydrogen release behavior from rare earth oxides (REOs) (Y2O3, Sm2O3, Eu2O3, Gd2O3, Dy2O3, Er2O3, and Yb2O3) exposed to 133 Pa of deuterium (D2) gas or 2 kPa of heavy water (D2O) vapor at 873 K for 5 h was examined using thermal desorption spectroscopy. Hydrogen solubility and diffusivity in Y2O3, Gd2O3, Dy2O3, Er2O3, and Yb2O3 exposed to a deuterium-tritium gas mixture (5% to 7% T, 133 Pa) at 873 K and 973 K for 5 h were determined using a tritium imaging plate method. The structural and morphological properties of sintered disk specimens of those REOs were evaluated using an X-ray diffractometer and a scanning electron microscope. From the obtained results, the REO materials were clearly categorized into two kinds in terms of their crystal structure and hydrogen solubility: Monoclinic specimens of Sm2O3, Eu2O3, and Gd2O3 had relatively high hydrogen solubility and diffusivity, while cubic Y2O3, Dy2O3, Er2O3, and Yb2O3 had lower ones. The present study suggests that the cubic REOs could be suitable in a nuclear fusion reactor as the tritium barrier materials.
