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Division Spotlight
Radiation Protection & Shielding
The Radiation Protection and Shielding Division is developing and promoting radiation protection and shielding aspects of nuclear science and technology — including interaction of nuclear radiation with materials and biological systems, instruments and techniques for the measurement of nuclear radiation fields, and radiation shield design and evaluation.
Meeting 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!
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August 2025
Nuclear Technology
July 2025
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Latest News
Take steps on SNF and HLW disposal
Matt Bowen
With a new administration and Congress, it is time once again to ponder what will happen—if anything—on U.S. spent nuclear fuel and high-level waste management policy over the next few years. One element of the forthcoming discussion seems clear: The executive and legislative branches are eager to talk about recycling commercial SNF. Whatever the merits of doing so, it does not obviate the need for one or more facilities for disposal of remaining long-lived radionuclides. For that reason, making progress on U.S. disposal capabilities remains urgent, lest the associated radionuclide inventories simply be left for future generations to deal with.
In March, Rick Perry, who was secretary of energy during President Trump’s first administration, observed that during his tenure at the Department of Energy it became clear to him that any plan to move SNF “required some practical consent of the receiving state and local community.”1
Allen S. Benjamin, David J. McCloskey
Nuclear Technology | Volume 49 | Number 2 | July 1980 | Pages 274-294
Nuclear Fuel Cycle | Fuel Cycle | doi.org/10.13182/NT80-A32490
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
An analysis has been performed to determine the heatup of spent fuel following a hypothetical accident involving drainage of the storage pool. The heatup has been found to be strongly dependent on the spent fuel decay time, the storage rack design, and the packing density in the pool, as well as the drainage level and the building ventilation characteristics. In particular, the prerequisite decay time to preclude failure of the cladding due to rupture or melting has been found to vary from <10 days for some storage configurations to several years for others. The potential for reducing this critical decay time either by making reasonable design modifications or by providing effective emergency counter-measures has been found to be significant.
