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2026 Annual Conference
May 31–June 3, 2026
Denver, CO|Sheraton Denver
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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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Modernizing I&C for operations and maintenance, one phase at a time
The two reactors at Dominion Energy’s Surry plant are among the oldest in the U.S. nuclear fleet. Yet when the plant celebrated its 50th anniversary in 2023, staff could raise a toast to the future. Surry was one of the first plants to file a subsequent license renewal (SLR) application, and in May 2021, it became official: the plant was licensed to operate for a full 80 years, extending its reactors’ lifespans into 2052 and 2053.
Ch. Hellwig, K. Bakker, T. Ozawa, M. Nakamura, F. Ingold, L. Å. Nordström, Y. Kihara
Nuclear Science and Engineering | Volume 153 | Number 3 | July 2006 | Pages 233-244
Technical Paper | doi.org/10.13182/NSE06-A2609
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
Particle fuels such as sphere-pac and vipac have been considered as promising fuel systems for fast reactors because of their inherent potential in remote operation, cost reduction, and incineration of minor actinides or low-decontaminated plutonium. The FUJI test addresses the questions of fabrication of mixed-oxide (MOX) particle fuels with high Pu content (20%) and its irradiation behavior during the start-up phase. Four kinds of fuel, i.e., MOX sphere-pac, MOX vipac, MOX pellet, and Np-MOX sphere-pac, have been and will be simultaneously irradiated under identical conditions in the High Flux Reactor in Petten, Netherlands. First results show that the particle fuel undergoes a substantial structure change already at the very beginning of the irradiation when the maximum power is reached. The changes in microstructure, i.e., the formation of a central void and the densification of fuel, decrease the fuel central temperature. Thus, the fast and strong restructuring helps to prevent central fuel melting at high power levels.