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Conference Spotlight
2025 ANS Winter Conference & Expo
November 9–12, 2025
Washington, DC|Washington Hilton
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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Dry Ice Blasting: A Game-Changer for Safe Cleaning and Decontamination in Nuclear Power Plants
The nuclear energy industry is critical not only for meeting the world’s growing demand for electricity but also for advancing global decarbonization goals. As the sector evolves—through life extensions of existing plants, decommissioning, innovations like small modular reactors (SMRs) and microreactors, and new facility construction—the need for safe, efficient, and environmentally responsible maintenance and decommissioning continues to grow. Whether a plant is coming online, operating beyond its original design life, or entering decommissioning, cleanliness and operational integrity remain non-negotiable. That’s where dry ice blasting stands out—a powerful, safe cleaning method ideally suited for the high-stakes demands of nuclear environments.
H. Susskind, W. E. Winsche, W. Becker
Nuclear Technology | Volume 1 | Number 5 | October 1965 | Pages 405-411
Technical Paper | doi.org/10.13182/NT65-A20549
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
A unique method produces perfectly ordered packed beds of spheres that are dropped randomly into rigid rectangular columns. This method is applicable to loading fuel elements for many types of reactors. Experiments were conducted with 0.125-, 0.250-, and 0.500-in. (0.318-, 0.635-, and 1.270-cm)-diam stainless-steel, bronze, and aluminum balls in 1.8- to 7.6-in. (4.5- to 19.3-cm)-wide square Lucite columns. Quantitatively reproducible ordered beds were obtained consistently. Irregular spheres as well as mixtures of two sizes of balls with diametral differences as great as 5% in 10 to 50% mixtures could be packed in an ordered fashion. The bed can be fluidized and subsequently re-settled into an ordered array again. These ordered beds were found to possess great structural flexibility because they move in spring-like fashion. This flexibility permits the fuel elements to compensate for thermal and hydraulic fluctuations and for radiation-induced fuel swelling.
