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Conference Spotlight
Nuclear Energy Conference & Expo (NECX)
September 8–11, 2025
Atlanta, GA|Atlanta Marriott Marquis
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Reflections on NOW
Hash Hasemianpresident@ans.org
Last month, I talked about my goal of strengthening ANS’s voice, in part by attending three conferences. I have now checked the first event off that list: the Nuclear Opportunities Workshop.
This year, NOW took another step in outgrowing its “workshop” moniker and transitioning to a full-fledged regional conference and expo. What started only a few years ago as a small gathering in Oak Ridge, Tenn., with roughly 50 attendees has skyrocketed to an event with 1,100 people in attendance in Knoxville.
NOW’s popularity reflected how busy the roughly 350 nuclear companies in Tennessee have been in recent years. There is significant work going on surrounding Gen IV reactor development and deployment, advancements in new nuclear fuels, and defense-related builds like the Uranium Processing Facility.
Robert E. Einziger, Steven C. Marschman, H. Craig Buchanan
Nuclear Technology | Volume 94 | Number 3 | June 1991 | Pages 383-393
Technical Paper | Radioactive Waste Management | doi.org/10.13182/NT91-A15816
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
Multiple samples of moderate-burnup pressurized water reactor (PWR) and boiling water reactor (BWR) spent fuel are oxidized in controlled atmosphere dry baths at 175, 130, and 110° C. The atmosphere consists of air humidified to a dew point of either—55 or +80°C. These tests are run for up to 18.8 kh. The weight gain data from these tests are analyzed using a mathematical model incorporating the assumption that oxidation occurs by rapid grain-boundary oxygen diffusion, followed by oxidation of the individual fuel grains. The BWR fuel appears to oxidize slightly faster than PWR fuel, and the data suggest a possible increase in oxidation rate in moist air. Reasonable agreement is observed between the oxidation rate constants obtained in these long-term tests and prior short-term thermogravimetric analysis oxidation tests.
