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Conference Spotlight
2025 ANS Winter Conference & Expo
November 8–12, 2025
Washington, DC|Washington Hilton
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Fusion Science and Technology
Latest News
DNFSB’s Summers ends board tenure, extending agency’s loss of quorum
Lee
Summers
The Defense Nuclear Facilities Safety Board, the independent agency responsible for ensuring that Department of Energy facilities are protective of public health and safety, announced that the board’s acting chairman, Thomas Summers, has concluded his service with the agency, having completed his second term as a board member on October 18.
Summers’ departure leaves Patricia Lee, who joined the DNFSB after being confirmed by the Senate in July 2024, as the board’s only remaining member and acting chair. Lee’s DNFSB board term ends in October 2027.
R. Pampin, A. Cubi, N. Taylor, M. Fabbri, P. Martinez-Albertos, P. Sauvan, Y. LeTonqueze
Fusion Science and Technology | Volume 80 | Number 8 | November 2024 | Pages 1012-1023
Research Article | doi.org/10.1080/15361055.2023.2278375
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
Photoneutrons may be generated in beryllium by energetic gamma rays via the reaction 9Be(γ,n)8Be. In ITER, the beryllium layer of the first wall may be the source of such photoneutrons. During plasma operation, these are of insignificant intensity compared with D-T neutrons from the plasma, but after shutdown, photoneutrons produced by decay gammas from neutron-activated material may be significant enough to impact sensitive electronic components in diagnostic or remote handling equipment that would not otherwise be exposed to neutrons.
Studies have been performed to characterize the expected photoneutron source and to evaluate the fluxes arising in detailed three-dimensional models of the ITER tokamak. The results show photoneutron fluxes approaching 105 n/cm2·s within the vessel and up to 103 n/cm2·s elsewhere within the bioshield 14 days after shutdown. When first-wall panels are being transported to the Hot Cell Facility after irradiation, a photoneutron flux exceeding 104 n/cm2·s within the transfer cask is predicted 21 days after shutdown. The peak values in the surrounding building are between 102 and 103 n/cm2·s at the same time.