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
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!
Latest Magazine Issues
Aug 2025
Jan 2025
Latest Journal Issues
Nuclear Science and Engineering
September 2025
Nuclear Technology
Fusion Science and Technology
August 2025
Latest News
New coolants, new fuels: A new generation of university reactors
Here’s an easy way to make aging U.S. power reactors look relatively youthful: Compare them (average age: 43) with the nation’s university research reactors. The 25 operating today have been licensed for an average of about 58 years.
S. H. Smiley
Nuclear Technology | Volume 24 | Number 3 | December 1974 | Pages 294-299
Technical Paper | Radioactive Waste | doi.org/10.13182/NT74-A31489
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
Waste management is a topic of great importance to industry and the general public, and one that receives a great deal of attention within the regulatory organization. The regulated fuel cycle includes uranium milling, UF6 conversion, fuel fabrication, chemical reprocessing of spent reactor fuel, transportation of nuclear materials, and waste disposal. Management of radioactive waste generated in the nuclear fuel cycle is of particular interest now. A number of policy decisions must be made in the near future and then implemented as regulatory requirements. These decisions must receive public acceptance for safety and protection of environmental values. The main issues pertain to management of high-level waste, management of plutonium bearing waste (including the fuel cladding hulls from reprocessed fuel), stabilization and long-term control of mill tailings, and the application of the “as low as practicable” concept of fuel cycle effluents in light of the current status of technology. Two important studies are presently being carried out by the U.S. Atomic Energy Commission. The first involves the assessment of the environmental effects of utilizing plutonium fuel in light-water reactors; the second is an environmental analysis of the nuclear fuel cycle associated with high-temperature gas-cooled reactor operations. Waste management is significantly represented and evaluated in each of these studies.