ANS is committed to advancing, fostering, and promoting the development and application of nuclear sciences and technologies to benefit society.
Explore the many uses for nuclear science and its impact on energy, the environment, healthcare, food, and more.
Division Spotlight
Fuel Cycle & Waste Management
Devoted to all aspects of the nuclear fuel cycle including waste management, worldwide. Division specific areas of interest and involvement include uranium conversion and enrichment; fuel fabrication, management (in-core and ex-core) and recycle; transportation; safeguards; high-level, low-level and mixed waste management and disposal; public policy and program management; decontamination and decommissioning environmental restoration; and excess weapons materials disposition.
Meeting Spotlight
2025 ANS Annual Conference
June 15–18, 2025
Chicago, IL|Chicago Marriott 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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Nuclear Science and Engineering
June 2025
Nuclear Technology
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Latest News
NRC v. Texas: Supreme Court weighs challenge to NRC authority in spent fuel storage case
The State of Texas has not one but two ongoing federal court challenges to the Nuclear Regulatory Commission that could, if successful, turn decades of NRC regulations, precedent, and case law on its head.
C. L. Fitzgerald, H. W. Godbee, R. E. Blanco, W. Davis, Jr.
Nuclear Technology | Volume 9 | Number 6 | December 1970 | Pages 821-829
Radioactive Waste | doi.org/10.13182/NT70-A28714
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
Residues from aqueous and organic intermediate- level radioactive waste can be incorporated in asphalt or polyethylene to reduce the mobility of radionuclides after burial or storage of the solidified waste product. Asphalt or polyethylene products containing up to 60 wt% of nonoxidizing inorganic solids have a chemical resistance similar to that of pure asphalt or polyethylene. Leach rates projected over 200 years indicate that ~5% of a soluble element (sodium or cesium) or 0.6% of an insoluble nuclide (106Ru) would be leached from a 55-gal drum of product submerged in water. Polyethylene accommodated up to 40 wt% of organic liquids, such as tributyl phosphate (TBP), while asphalt products containing 25% TBP were not entirely satisfactory. Polyethylene products were also superior to asphalt products in flammability and radiation stability tests. Incorporation in asphalt is not recommended for waste solids containing significant amounts of oxidants.
