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Nuclear Energy Conference & Expo (NECX)
September 8–11, 2025
Atlanta, GA|Atlanta Marriott Marquis
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Take steps on SNF and HLW disposal
Matt Bowen
With a new administration and Congress, it is time once again to ponder what will happen—if anything—on U.S. spent nuclear fuel and high-level waste management policy over the next few years. One element of the forthcoming discussion seems clear: The executive and legislative branches are eager to talk about recycling commercial SNF. Whatever the merits of doing so, it does not obviate the need for one or more facilities for disposal of remaining long-lived radionuclides. For that reason, making progress on U.S. disposal capabilities remains urgent, lest the associated radionuclide inventories simply be left for future generations to deal with.
In March, Rick Perry, who was secretary of energy during President Trump’s first administration, observed that during his tenure at the Department of Energy it became clear to him that any plan to move SNF “required some practical consent of the receiving state and local community.”1
W. J. M. de Kruijf, A. J. Janssen
Nuclear Science and Engineering | Volume 123 | Number 1 | May 1996 | Pages 121-135
Technical Paper | doi.org/10.13182/NSE94-108
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
Calculations of resonance absorption for simple temperature profiles both in a slab and in a pin of 238UO2 are presented to show the influence of a nonuniform fuel temperature profile on the choice of the equivalent uniform temperature, or the effective fuel temperature. The effective fuel temperature is given as a weighted average of the temperatures in the fuel zones. Two simple theoretical expressions for this weighted average, derived from the literature, are discussed. First, for high absorption, the effective fuel temperature is given by the so-called chord-averaged fuel temperature. Second, for low absorption, the effective fuel temperature is given by the volume-averaged fuel temperature. The results for a slab of 238UO2 show that a bruteforce method is necessary to calculate an accurate effective fuel temperature. A set of weights for one specific 238UO2 pin is calculated. This set agrees well with the chord-averaged fuel temperature. However, this appears to be a coincidence because the results for specific neutron energy ranges do not agree with this set of weights.
