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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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No impact from Savannah River radioactive wasps
The news is abuzz with recent news stories about four radioactive wasp nests found at the Department of Energy’s Savannah River Site in South Carolina. The site has been undergoing cleanup operations since the 1990s related to the production of plutonium and tritium for defense purposes during the Cold War. Cleanup activities are expected to continue into the 2060s.
Tetsuo Fukasawa, Yoshihiro Ozawa, Fumio Kawamura
Nuclear Technology | Volume 94 | Number 1 | April 1991 | Pages 108-113
Technical Paper | Enrichment and Reprocessing | doi.org/10.13182/NT91-A16226
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
The generation and decomposition behavior of nitrous acid is experimentally investigated during dissolution of unirradiated uranium dioxide (UO2) pellets by a nitric acid solution. The nitrous acid is generated by the dissolution of UO2 and it then decomposes to nitrogen oxides through the solution surface. The generation rate is equal to the dissolution rate of the uranium pellet and it depends on the nitric acid concentration, solution temperature, and effective pellet surface area. The decomposition rate depends on the solution surface area and temperature. These findings allow prediction of changes in nitrous acid concentration during and after dissolution.
