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.
Explore membership for yourself or for your organization.
Conference Spotlight
2025 ANS Winter Conference & Expo
November 9–12, 2025
Washington, DC|Washington Hilton
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!
Latest Magazine Issues
Oct 2025
Jul 2025
Latest Journal Issues
Nuclear Science and Engineering
November 2025
Nuclear Technology
October 2025
Fusion Science and Technology
Latest News
Sellafield awards $3.86B in infrastructure contracts to three companies
Sellafield Ltd., the site license company overseeing the decommissioning of the U.K.’s Sellafield nuclear site in Cumbria, England, announced the award of £2.9 billion (about $3.86 billion) in infrastructure support contracts to the companies of Morgan Sindall Infrastructure, Costain, and HOCHTIEF (UK) Construction.
Charles W. Forsberg
Nuclear Technology | Volume 131 | Number 3 | September 2000 | Pages 337-353
Technical Paper | Radioactive Waste Management and Disposal | doi.org/10.13182/NT00-A3121
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
The use of depleted uranium dioxide (DUO2) particulates as fill material for repository waste packages (WPs) containing light-water reactor (LWR) spent nuclear fuel (SNF) was investigated. A repository WP would be loaded with SNF, and small DUO2 particulates (0.5 to 1.0 mm) would be added to fill the void space inside the WP - including the coolant channels inside SNF assemblies. The DUO2 fill slows release of radionuclides from the SNF by (a) creating a local chemically reducing environment that slows degradation of the SNF UO2 and (b) reducing groundwater flow through the WP. The depleted uranium (DU) fill minimizes the potential for long-term criticality in the repository by isotopic dilution of 233U and 235U. The potential for criticality is primarily determined by 235U (a) originally in the SNF and (b) from decay of 239Pu. The use of DU consumes excess DU from the production of enriched uranium. The mechanisms for improvements in repository performance with DUO2 fill are defined, but additional work is required to fully quantify the benefits and costs of such an approach.