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Division Spotlight
Nuclear Criticality Safety
NCSD provides communication among nuclear criticality safety professionals through the development of standards, the evolution of training methods and materials, the presentation of technical data and procedures, and the creation of specialty publications. In these ways, the division furthers the exchange of technical information on nuclear criticality safety with the ultimate goal of promoting the safe handling of fissionable materials outside reactors.
Meeting Spotlight
Nuclear Energy Conference & Expo (NECX)
September 8–11, 2025
Atlanta, GA|Atlanta Marriott Marquis
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
Take steps on SNF and HLW disposal
Matt Bowen
With a new administration and Congress, it is time once again to ponder what will happen—if anything—on U.S. spent nuclear fuel and high-level waste management policy over the next few years. One element of the forthcoming discussion seems clear: The executive and legislative branches are eager to talk about recycling commercial SNF. Whatever the merits of doing so, it does not obviate the need for one or more facilities for disposal of remaining long-lived radionuclides. For that reason, making progress on U.S. disposal capabilities remains urgent, lest the associated radionuclide inventories simply be left for future generations to deal with.
In March, Rick Perry, who was secretary of energy during President Trump’s first administration, observed that during his tenure at the Department of Energy it became clear to him that any plan to move SNF “required some practical consent of the receiving state and local community.”1
C. E. Milstead, L. R. Zumwalt
Nuclear Technology | Volume 3 | Number 8 | August 1967 | Pages 495-499
Technical Paper and Note | doi.org/10.13182/NT67-A27781
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
The deposition of cesium on type-304 stainless steel has been measured in vacuo using 137Cs-tagged cesium. Measurements were made at 650 to 1350°F over a cesium pressure range of 2 × 10−9 to 5 × 10−6 atm using specimens that had been vacuum baked at temperatures ranging from 650 to 1870°F for 18 to 90 h. Adsorption isotherms were characterized by an empirical isotherm that shows a linear variation of log pressure with surface coverage; the heat of sorption decreases linearly with coverage. Cesium plateout levels range from 0.55 mg Cs/m2 (based on the geometric surface of the specimen) on very clean surfaces to 80 mg Cs/m2 on surfaces that were slightly oxidized. The amount of cesium deposited is shown to be directly related to the temperature and duration of the bakeout period. Isosteric heats of adsorption vary from about 22 to 98 kcal/mol over the range of coverage.
