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NRC approves TerraPower construction permit
Today, the Nuclear Regulatory Commission announced that it has approved TerraPower’s construction permit application for Kemmerer Unit 1, the company’s first deployment of Natrium, its flagship sodium fast reactor.
This approval is a significant milestone on three fronts. For TerraPower, it represents another step forward in demonstrating its technology. For the Department of Energy, it reflects progress (despite delays) for the Advanced Reactor Demonstration Program (ARDP). For the NRC, it is the first approval granted to a commercial reactor in nearly a decade—and the first approval of a commercial non–light water reactor in more than 40 years.
Lung Kwang Pan
Nuclear Technology | Volume 124 | Number 3 | December 1998 | Pages 276-283
Technical Paper | Radiation Measurements and Instrumentation | doi.org/10.13182/NT98-A2926
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
A feasibility study of gross alpha counting in real environmental samples using the superheated-liquid-droplet (SLD) technique has been carried out. To find an alternative technique as a fast screening for gross alpha counting in environmental samples, various samples acquired from real groundwater and soil were mixed with the SLD emulsion. The intersections of alpha particles with the superheated liquid Freon-12 droplets trigger the vaporization of the droplet and form bubbles. The acoustic wave accompanying the bubble formation can be recorded by a piezoelectric sensor. The number of bubbles recorded represents a measurement of the gross alpha counting. These results are reasonable when compared with those obtained using the conventional methods. However, for practical application, the SLD fabrication and correlated counting process still need to be further modified.