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Nuclear Criticality Safety
NCSD provides communication among nuclear criticality safety professionals through the development of standards, the evolution of training methods and materials, the presentation of technical data and procedures, and the creation of specialty publications. In these ways, the division furthers the exchange of technical information on nuclear criticality safety with the ultimate goal of promoting the safe handling of fissionable materials outside reactors.
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2024 ANS Annual Conference
June 16–19, 2024
Las Vegas, NV|Mandalay Bay Resort and Casino
Standards Program
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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Latest News
Digital control system installed at China’s Linglong One
Earlier this month, the first digital control system was put in place at Linglong One, a small modular reactor demonstration project being built at the Changjiang nuclear power plant in Hainan Province. This is the world’s first land-based commercial SMR and is controlled by China National Nuclear Power Co. Ltd., a subsidiary of the China National Nuclear Corporation (CNNC).
Neill Taylor et al.
Fusion Science and Technology | Volume 56 | Number 2 | August 2009 | Pages 573-580
Fusion Technology Plenary | Eighteenth Topical Meeting on the Technology of Fusion Energy (Part 2) | doi.org/10.13182/FST56-573
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
In order to support the licensing application for the ITER facility at Cadarache, a preliminary safety case has been prepared and submitted to the French nuclear safety authorities. This paper provides an overview of technical aspects of this case, which is based on an evolution of the safety approach developed and applied in earlier phases of the ITER project.The basis of the safety of ITER derives from the fundamental safety characteristics of fusion. The potential radiological hazards that arise are related to the tritium fuel and material activated by neutrons. The confinement of these materials is therefore the principal safety function, and it is reliably provided by robust barriers inherent in the design together with filtering and detritiation as a secondary level of confinement provision.A Defense in Depth approach is taken to ensure that off-normal events are minimized in their frequency, and that the consequences of accidents, even though extremely unlikely, are limited. A comprehensive set of analyses of postulated event sequences provides the demonstration that the consequences of enveloping scenarios are well within acceptable limits, and that even for hypothetical events involving two or more independent failures, the public and environmental impacts remain limited. An ALARA approach is taken to minimizing occupational radiation exposure, as well as other potential impacts of normal operation such as routine releases.Other hazards arising from internal and external risks are also considered, with design provisions, for example the Tokamak building is built on seismic isolation pads to minimise the effect of an earthquake.