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NRC unveils Part 53 final rule
The Nuclear Regulatory Commission has finalized its new regulatory framework for advanced reactors that officials believe will accelerate, simplify, and reduce burdens in the new reactor licensing process.
The final rule arrives more than a year ahead of an end-of-2027 deadline set in the Nuclear Energy Innovation and Modernization Act (NEIMA), the 2019 law that formally directed the NRC to develop a new, technology-inclusive regulatory approach. The resulting rule—10 CFR Part 53, “Risk-Informed, Technology-Inclusive Regulatory Framework for Advanced Reactors”—is commonly referred to as Part 53.
T. R. Allen, J. Gan, J. I. Cole, S. Ukai, S. Shutthanandan, S. Thevuthasan
Nuclear Science and Engineering | Volume 151 | Number 3 | November 2005 | Pages 305-312
Technical Paper | doi.org/10.13182/NSE05-A2549
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
An oxide-dispersion-strengthened (ODS) martensitic steel 9Cr-ODS was irradiated with 5-MeV Ni ions at 500°C at a dose rate of 1.4 × 10-3 dpa/s to doses of 5, 50, and 150 dpa. The ODS steel has been designed for use in higher-temperature energy systems. However, the radiation effects are not fully characterized, particularly to high doses. Dense dislocations, precipitates, and yttrium-titanium oxide particles dominated the microstructure of 9Cr-ODS for both the unirradiated and irradiated cases with no dislocation loops observed. No voids were detected for doses up to 150 dpa. The average size of the oxide particles, whose size is approximately described by a lognormal distribution, slightly decreased with dose from ~12 nm for the unirradiated case to ~9 nm at 150 dpa. The decrease in size follows a square root of dose dependency, indicating the effect is radiation induced. The decrease in size is not expected to have a detrimental effect on high-temperature strength, even to extremely high dose.