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Division Spotlight
Materials Science & Technology
The objectives of MSTD are: promote the advancement of materials science in Nuclear Science Technology; support the multidisciplines which constitute it; encourage research by providing a forum for the presentation, exchange, and documentation of relevant information; promote the interaction and communication among its members; and recognize and reward its members for significant contributions to the field of materials science in nuclear technology.
Meeting Spotlight
Nuclear Energy Conference & Expo (NECX)
September 8–11, 2025
Atlanta, GA|Atlanta Marriott Marquis
Standards Program
The Standards Committee is responsible for the development and maintenance of voluntary consensus standards that address the design, analysis, and operation of components, systems, and facilities related to the application of nuclear science and technology. Find out What’s New, check out the Standards Store, or Get Involved today!
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Nuclear Science and Engineering
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Fusion Science and Technology
Latest News
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
F. Maekawa, Y. Oyama, C. Konno, M. Wada, Y. Ikeda
Nuclear Science and Engineering | Volume 126 | Number 2 | June 1997 | Pages 187-200
Technical Paper | doi.org/10.13182/NSE97-A24472
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
Benchmark experiments for the validation of secondary-gamma-ray data are conducted for iron and Type 316 stainless steel (SS316) shield assemblies bombarded by deuterium-tritium neutrons. Gamma-ray spectra and heating rates for both threshold and capture gamma rays are measured. With the present experimental data for gamma rays, a set of benchmark data for iron and SS316, including neutron energy spectra in entire energies and various dosimetry reaction rates, is completed for the first time. Secondary-gamma-ray data in JENDL-3.1, JENDL-3.2, JENDL-Fusion File, and FENDL/ E-1.0 are tested by benchmark calculation of the experiments. As a result, larger gamma-ray-production cross sections for threshold reactions in JENDL-3.1 and JENDL-3.2 and an inconsistent energy balance of the (n, γ) reactions in JENDL-3.1 are found. From the viewpoint of fusion engineering, the first priority in evaluating secondary-gamma-ray data should be conserving the energy balance. A rigid energy balance in both the JENDL Fusion File and FENDL/E-1.0 is confirmed for both threshold and capture gamma rays. The JENDL Fusion File and FENDL/E-1.0 provide the highly accurate secondary-gamma-ray data for iron and SS316 needed for fusion reactor nuclear design.
