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Nuclear Energy Conference & Expo (NECX)
September 8–11, 2025
Atlanta, GA|Atlanta Marriott Marquis
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General Matter to build Kentucky enrichment plant under DOE lease
The Department of Energy’s Office of Environmental Management announced it has signed a lease with General Matter for the reuse of a 100-acre parcel of federal land at the former Paducah Gaseous Diffusion Plant in Kentucky for a new private-sector domestic uranium enrichment facility.
M. L. Corradini
Nuclear Science and Engineering | Volume 78 | Number 2 | June 1981 | Pages 154-170
Technical Paper | doi.org/10.13182/NSE81-A20101
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
During the past few years, over 300 small-scale experiments have been performed by Nelson at Sandia National Laboratories, investigating the triggering of steam explosions over a variety of initial conditions. The primary purpose of this paper is to present the results of phenomenological modeling and analyses that may explain the experimental observations. These three major conclusions are suggested by the analysis. Noncondensible gases generated by fuel oxidation appear to be the cause of steam explosion suppression for metallic fuel melts, causing a more stable film between the hot and cold liquids. Suppression of the explosion by high ambient pressure or high water temperature is caused by the initial coolant vapor film becoming more stable inhibiting film collapse. All the above effects appear to be trigger related. Therefore, an explosion can be generated if the trigger magnitude is sufficiently increased.