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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.
A. L. Wehmeyer, R. F. Radel, G. L. Kulcinski
Fusion Science and Technology | Volume 47 | Number 4 | May 2005 | Pages 1260-1264
Technical Paper | Fusion Energy - Nonelectric Applications | doi.org/10.13182/FST05-A861
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
Detection of explosives has been identified as a near term commercial opportunity for using a fusion plasma. Typical explosive compositions contain low Z material (C, N, O) which are not easily detected using conventional x-rays or metal detectors. However, 2.45 MeV neutrons produced in a D-D fusion reaction can be used for detection of explosives or other clandestine materials in suitcases, packages, or shipping containers.Steady-state D-D operation is possible using an Inertial Electrostatic Confinement (IEC) fusion device. The University of Wisconsin IEC device has produced D-D neutrons at 1.8 × 108 neutrons/second at a true cathode voltage of 166 kV and a meter current of 68 mA. These neutron production rates are approaching the levels required for the detection of explosives. In order to increase and optimize the neutron production rate in the IEC device, experiments were performed altering the cathode's size (diameter), geometry, and material composition. Preliminary results indicate that significant differences in neutron production rates are not achieved by altering the geometry or material composition of the cathode. However, the neutron production rate was found to increase approximately 20% by doubling the cathode's diameter from 10 cm to 20 cm. In addition, increasing the cathode voltage from 34 kV to 94 kV at a meter current of 30 mA increased the neutron production rate from 1.24 × 106 n/s to 2.83 × 107 n/s.
