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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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Latest News
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.
James P. Adams, Eric S. Peterson
Nuclear Technology | Volume 102 | Number 3 | June 1993 | Pages 304-312
Technical Paper | Nuclear Reactor Safety | doi.org/10.13182/NT93-A17029
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
The iodine concentration in the steam generator secondary vapor must be determined in order to estimate the environmental consequences (i.e., iodine source term to the environment) due to a steam generator tube rupture (SGTR). Experimental evidence indicates that this concentration is sensitive to the liquid-phase pH. A thermodynamic-based calculational approach was used to model the pH during a design-basis SGTR. The EQUILIBRIUM code within the Facility for Analysis of Chemical Thermodynamics was assessed for calculation of pH by comparison with measured pH’s in operating pressurized water reactors (PWRs). The pH was calculated for ten generic PWR designs (one Babcock & Wilcox, three Combustion Engineering, and six Westinghouse). The calculated pH was shown to be relatively insensitive to PWR design. The pH for all designs equilibrated to a value of ∼6.5.