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Conference Spotlight
Nuclear Energy Conference & Expo (NECX)
September 8–11, 2025
Atlanta, GA|Atlanta Marriott Marquis
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Latest News
No impact from Savannah River radioactive wasps
The news is abuzz with recent news stories about four radioactive wasp nests found at the Department of Energy’s Savannah River Site in South Carolina. The site has been undergoing cleanup operations since the 1990s related to the production of plutonium and tritium for defense purposes during the Cold War. Cleanup activities are expected to continue into the 2060s.
Alex Galperin
Nuclear Science and Engineering | Volume 86 | Number 1 | January 1984 | Pages 112-115
Technical Note | doi.org/10.13182/NSE84-A17976
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
An alternative method of thorium utilization in light water reactors (LWRs) is proposed. The main idea of the proposed concept is to apply a different fuel management scheme for the neutron-producing part of the core, the uranium seed, and for the neutron-absorbing part of the core, the thorium blanket. An example of the specific design based on this concept was analyzed, and preliminary evaluation indicated the potential of significant savings in uranium consumption. The fuel cycle of the proposed concept includes reprocessing and re-fabrication of uranium fuel only, without separation of plutonium and 233U isotopes. Such a fuel cycle offers higher proliferation resistance compared with the LWR recycle mode of operation or the light water breeder reactor fuel cycle. Finally, the feasibility of the reactor design based on the proposed concept may be established after detailed thermal-hydraulic analysis and study of the irradiation behavior of the thorium-based fuel.