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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.
A. Charlier, M. Doucet, C. Vandenberg, W. de Roovere, J. Bens
Nuclear Science and Engineering | Volume 100 | Number 4 | December 1988 | Pages 451-457
Technical Paper | doi.org/10.13182/NSE88-A23578
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
For optimal operation of a power plant, it is now necessary to install an expert system in the control room, particularly to aid the operator in predicting, following, and explaining operating events. The three-dimensional MICROLUX code, foreseen for such a system, was tested on an operating event occurring in the Doel-3 reactor. After an ≈6-h scram, the return to full power (PN) was limited at 15% PN because of an unacceptable axial offset deviation, which was believed to have been caused by xenon buildup during the shutdown. The reactor was then required to be operated at reduced power for 18 h before again reaching nominal power. From the study, however, it seems that there was no danger in returning directly to full power in spite of the ex-core indications. The three-dimensional calculations and the ex-core results show that there is a need to investigate the ex-core/in-core relationship when the reactor is operated outside the calibration field. These preliminary results indicate that the axial offset concept should be analyzed on the basis of a large number of transient operating conditions with the help of three-dimensional methods, which give a better description of the core behavior during transients. The use of such methods could contribute to a safer and more economical operation of the reactor.