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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.
Vamsi Krishna K, Gopi Krishna C, Ateekh Ur Rehman, Kishore Babu Nagumothu, Mahesh Kumar Talari, Prakash Srirangam
Fusion Science and Technology | Volume 80 | Number 2 | February 2024 | Pages 166-177
Research Article | doi.org/10.1080/15361055.2023.2211723
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
The current work aims to examine the influence of various welding speeds (500, 700, and 800 mm/min) on the microstructure and mechanical characteristics of electron beam–welded Ti-6Al-4V alloy joints. The base metal microstructure was composed of a slightly elongated α phase and a transformed β phase, whereas the fusion zone (FZ) exhibited an acicular martensitic α′ microstructure. This is due to faster cooling rates in the FZ associated with electron beam welding. The welds prepared with a 800 mm/min welding speed showed higher strength and lower ductility [yield strength (YS): 959 ± 6 MPa, ultimate tensile strength (UTS): 993 ± 5 MPa, percent elongation (%El): 8] compared to those prepared with 500 mm/min (YS: 909 ± 4 MPa, UTS: 956 ± 5 MPa, %El: 11). This was due to a decrease in the width of the α-platelets in the FZ owing to faster cooling rates at higher welding speeds. For all welding speeds, samples that underwent post-weld heat treatment (PWHT) displayed a noteworthy reduction in both UTS and hardness values compared to all the as-welded samples. However, the welds at lower welding speeds showed lower strength and higher ductility (YS: 868 ± 5 MPa, UTS: 922 ± 4 MPa, %El: 13) compared to higher welding speeds (YS: 892 ± 5 MPa, UTS: 938 ± 6 MPa, %El: 9) after PWHT. This is due to the formation of the diffusional product α + β phase in the FZ, as evidenced by the transmission electron microscope results.