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Conference Spotlight
Nuclear Energy Conference & Expo (NECX)
September 8–11, 2025
Atlanta, GA|Atlanta Marriott Marquis
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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The 2025 edition is a reinvigoration of the withdrawn ANS-54.8-1988 of the same title.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.
N. R. CHELLEW, R. K. STEUNENBERG
Nuclear Science and Engineering | Volume 14 | Number 1 | September 1962 | Pages 1-7
Technical Paper | doi.org/10.13182/NSE62-A26192
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
Swelling and rare gas release of irradiated prototype EBR-II fuel pins during heating have been studied with material containing 320 to 830 ppm of these gases (0.2 to 0.6 at. % burnup). Data on both phenomena were obtained at varied heating rates and with stepwise heating to successively higher temperature levels. In each experiment, over 99% of the rare gases was released before the alloy was fully molten at about 1080°C. Within experimental error the behaviors of xenon-133 and krypton-85 were identical. Below 750°C, gas release was slow; above 750°C, the rate increased sharply. The quantity of gas evolved as a function of time at constant temperatures to 850°C appeared to be directly proportional to the time rather than the square root of time as predicted by diffusion theory. Swelling of the alloy showed much the same type of temperature dependence as the release of rare gas. For all heating patterns, pin swelling was most pronounced above 750°C, reaching a maximum diametral increase of about 47% as the pin melted. A brief comparison between the release of rare gas from this alloy and that from other metallic fuels is made. The effects of this phenomenon and associated swelling on the melt refining process envisioned for recovery of fuel from the first core loading of EBR-II are discussed.