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Conference Spotlight
Nuclear Energy Conference & Expo (NECX)
September 8–11, 2025
Atlanta, GA|Atlanta Marriott Marquis
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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.
Bernard L. Cohen
Nuclear Science and Engineering | Volume 80 | Number 1 | January 1982 | Pages 47-60
Technical Paper | doi.org/10.13182/NSE82-A21403
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
The various sources and sinks for heat in the reactor fuel and in the containment atmosphere are followed as a function of time, and they are used to determine what combinations of failures would lead to fuel meltdown and to rupture of the containment. Heat transfer problems are discussed and it is shown that their rates are not generally limiting. In some cases, it is indicated that the Rasmussen study assumptions were highly conservative.