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Conference Spotlight
Nuclear Energy Conference & Expo (NECX)
September 8–11, 2025
Atlanta, GA|Atlanta Marriott Marquis
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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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Deep Space: The new frontier of radiation controls
In commercial nuclear power, there has always been a deliberate tension between the regulator and the utility owner. The regulator fundamentally exists to protect the worker, and the utility, to make a profit. It is a win-win balance.
From the U.S. nuclear industry has emerged a brilliantly successful occupational nuclear safety record—largely the result of an ALARA (as low as reasonably achievable) process that has driven exposure rates down to what only a decade ago would have been considered unthinkable. In the U.S. nuclear industry, the system has accomplished an excellent, nearly seamless process that succeeds to the benefit of both employee and utility owner.
Michelangelo Durazzo, Ricardo Mendes Leal Neto, Adonis Marcelo Saliba-Silva, Elita Fontenele Urano de Carvalho, Humberto Gracher Riella
Nuclear Technology | Volume 182 | Number 1 | April 2013 | Pages 57-62
Technical Paper | Fuel Cycle and Management/Miscellaneous | doi.org/10.13182/NT13-A15826
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
Gadolinium has been added to nuclear fuel to enable longer fuel cycles. UO2-Gd2O3 mixed fuel shows bad sintering behavior, which is hindered at temperatures of [approximately]1200°C. The mechanism that explains this unusual sintering behavior is not yet fully understood. The formation of Gd-rich phases with low diffusivity or pore formation during sintering have both been suggested as possible causes. Experimental data published in the literature appear not to support phase formation; however, the formation of large closed pores in Gd2O3-rich regions of the fuel has been reported. Pore formation could be developed during the Gd2O3 C[right arrow]B phase transition, which is followed by volume reduction. Our study investigated this hypothesis. The results showed that the mechanism proposed does not explain the UO2-Gd2O3 sintering behavior.
