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Nuclear Criticality Safety
NCSD provides communication among nuclear criticality safety professionals through the development of standards, the evolution of training methods and materials, the presentation of technical data and procedures, and the creation of specialty publications. In these ways, the division furthers the exchange of technical information on nuclear criticality safety with the ultimate goal of promoting the safe handling of fissionable materials outside reactors.
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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
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
Shawn A. Campbell, John Palsmeier, Sudarshan K. Loyalka
Nuclear Science and Engineering | Volume 182 | Number 3 | March 2016 | Pages 287-296
Technical Paper | doi.org/10.13182/NSE15-40
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
The nuclear source term is greatly affected by the formation and presence of aerosols in the reactor primary vessel and the containment. In simulations, the aerosol distribution is often assumed spatially homogeneous (well mixed), and there have been relatively few studies of the effects of spatial inhomogeneity on aerosol evolution in nuclear accidents. We have explored here an extension of some of our recent work on the Direct Simulation Monte Carlo (DSMC) method to spatially inhomogeneous aerosol. In doing so, we have also departed from the traditional applications of the DSMC method where the computational domain is divided into fixed cells. We have explored here an alternative, mesh-free method by utilizing a clustering technique. This technique associates particles according to a distance parameter and is commonly used in group theory and machine learning. To benchmark this mesh-free modeling, we have verified the DSMC results against those obtained from the use of the cell balanced sectional technique for a spherical geometry where both coagulation and diffusion take place.