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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.
H. Christensen, S. Sunder
Nuclear Technology | Volume 131 | Number 1 | July 2000 | Pages 102-123
Technical Paper | Radioactive Waste Management and Disposal | doi.org/10.13182/NT00-A3107
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
Literature data on the effect of water radiolysis products on spent-fuel oxidation and dissolution are reviewed. Effects of gamma radiolysis, alpha radiolysis, and dissolved O2 or H2O2 in unirradiated solutions are discussed separately. Also, the effect of carbonate in gamma-irradiated solutions and radiolysis effects on leaching of spent fuel are reviewed. In addition, a kinetic model for calculating the corrosion rates of UO2 in solutions undergoing radiolysis is discussed. The model gives good agreement between calculated and measured corrosion rates in the case of gamma radiolysis and in unirradiated solutions containing dissolved oxygen or hydrogen peroxide. However, the model fails to predict the results of alpha radiolysis. In a recent study, it was shown that the model gave good agreement with measured corrosion rates of spent fuel exposed in deionized water. The applications of radiolysis studies for geologic disposal of used nuclear fuel are discussed.