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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.
P. Pohl , M. Wimmers, T. Kindt, W. Feltes, U. Schmid, H. Jung
Nuclear Science and Engineering | Volume 97 | Number 1 | September 1987 | Pages 64-71
Technical Paper | doi.org/10.13182/NSE87-A23497
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
The measurements that were made in recent years to determine the hot and the cold coefficient of reactivity and the corresponding model calculations carried out by both Interatom and Hochtemperaturreaktorbau are described. The effects of the partial load of low-enriched uranium (LEU) fuel were of major interest. The cold coefficient is determined in shutdown periods by measuring the subcriticality at different core temperatures. The hot coefficient is determined under operation in connection with a change in coolant outlet temperature at constant power using a calibrated rod curve. In the case of the cold coefficient, experiment and model calculations are in perfect agreement. Calculated values for the hot coefficient are ∼20% lower than the experimental ones. However, neither experiment nor model calculation show any significant change of the hot coefficient when about one-fourth of the core content was being replaced by LEU fuel.