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Conference 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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Latest News
A new ANSI/ANS standard for liquid metal fire protection published
ANSI/ANS-54.8-2025, Liquid Metal Fire Protection in LMR Plants, received approval from the American National Standards Institute on September 2 and is now available for purchase.
The 2025 edition is a reinvigoration of the withdrawn ANS-54.8-1988 of the same title. The Advanced Reactor Codes and Standards Collaborative (ARCSC) identified the need for a current version of the standard via an industry survey.
Typical liquid metal reactor designs use liquid sodium as the coolant for both the primary and intermediate heat-transport systems. In addition, liquid sodium and NaK (a mixture of sodium and potassium that is liquid at room temperature) are often used in auxiliary heat-removal systems. Since these liquid metals can react readily with oxygen, water, and other compounds, special precautions must be taken in the design, construction, testing, and maintenance of the sodium/NaK systems to ensure that the potential for leakage is very small.
T. A. Gens
Nuclear Science and Engineering | Volume 9 | Number 4 | April 1961 | Pages 488-494
Technical Paper | doi.org/10.13182/NSE61-A25912
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
Processes for dissolving uranium-zirconium and uranium-zirconium-niobium alloy fuels in ammonium fluoride solutions (Modified Zirflex processes) were developed in the laboratory. A non-aqueous process (Zircex process), in which high-zirconium alloys are hydrochlorinated at about 600°C, offers the possibility of zirconium separation prior to solvent extraction. Dissolvents consisting of mixtures of hydrofluoric acid and hydrogen peroxide or hydrofluoric acid, nitric acid, and aluminum nitrate are also attractive, but corrosion rates with common construction materials have proven excessively high at over 20 mils per month.
