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Division Spotlight
Fusion Energy
This division promotes the development and timely introduction of fusion energy as a sustainable energy source with favorable economic, environmental, and safety attributes. The division cooperates with other organizations on common issues of multidisciplinary fusion science and technology, conducts professional meetings, and disseminates technical information in support of these goals. Members focus on the assessment and resolution of critical developmental issues for practical fusion energy applications.
Meeting Spotlight
2027 ANS Winter Conference and Expo
October 31–November 4, 2027
Washington, DC|The Westin Washington, DC Downtown
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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Latest News
Supreme Court rules against Texas in interim storage case
The Supreme Court voted 6–3 against Texas and a group of landowners today in a case involving the Nuclear Regulatory Commission’s licensing of a consolidated interim storage facility for spent nuclear fuel, reversing a decision by the 5th Circuit Court of Appeals to grant the state and landowners Fasken Land and Minerals (Fasken) standing to challenge the license.
Richard R. Hobbins, Malcolm L. Russell, Charles S. Olsen, Richard K. McCardell
Nuclear Technology | Volume 87 | Number 4 | December 1989 | Pages 1005-1012
Late Paper | TMI-2: Decontamination and Waste Management / Nuclear Safety | doi.org/10.13182/NT89-A27692
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
The behavior of melts in severe accident sequences affects the nature (composition and fission product inventory) of the debris released from the vessel upon lower head failure in unmitigated accidents and the coolability of debris at various stages in managed accidents. Core melting progressed further in the Three Mile Island Unit 2 (TMI-2) accident than in any of the severe core damage experiments that have been conducted since the accident, and, therefore, TMI-2 represents a valuable source of information that extends into later phases of core melt progression, including melt relocation into the lower plenum. Examination and evaluation of melts within the TMI-2 reactor vessel indicate that melts can form uncoolable geometries in the core but they can also break through the surrounding crust, massively relocate into the lower plenum, and fragment upon interaction with water resident in the lower plenum to form a rubble bed of coolable geometry. The chemistry of melts, particularly the oxygen potential, affects fission product chemical form and, therefore, retention in the melt. The chemistry also determines interactions of the melts with reactor pressure vessel components.