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Division Spotlight
Nuclear Installations Safety
Devoted specifically to the safety of nuclear installations and the health and safety of the public, this division seeks a better understanding of the role of safety in the design, construction and operation of nuclear installation facilities. The division also promotes engineering and scientific technology advancement associated with the safety of such facilities.
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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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
S. R. Speidel, W. H. Plettenberg
Nuclear Technology | Volume 49 | Number 1 | June 1980 | Pages 61-69
Technical Paper | Nuclear Power Reactor Safety / Reactor | doi.org/10.13182/NT80-A32507
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
In concrete reactor vessels of high temperature reactors many cavities with different diameters are arranged. The design of the closures for such cavities is an important problem in the detail engineering. A draft based on using prestressed concrete as a material is presented for closures with high diameter values. The problems that could possibly be caused by the concrete weight might be solved through a proposal based on a separation of the closure into an inner and outer part. A special view is given to the kind of production as well as to a rapid mounting and remounting of the closures and sealing problems. The closures are fixed on the reactor vessel by tendons. The influence of the tendon forces, creep and shrinkage, pressure, etc. on stresses, stress distribution, and deformation are proved by a finite element analysis and the results are pointed out. A short outlook of further development is given.
