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The mission of the Decommissioning and Environmental Sciences (DES) Division is to promote the development and use of those skills and technologies associated with the use of nuclear energy and the optimal management and stewardship of the environment, sustainable development, decommissioning, remediation, reutilization, and long-term surveillance and maintenance of nuclear-related installations, and sites. The target audience for this effort is the membership of the Division, the Society, and the public at large.
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2025 ANS Annual Conference
June 15–18, 2025
Chicago, IL|Chicago Marriott Downtown
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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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Smarter waste strategies: Helping deliver on the promise of advanced nuclear
At COP28, held in Dubai in 2023, a clear consensus emerged: Nuclear energy must be a cornerstone of the global clean energy transition. With electricity demand projected to soar as we decarbonize not just power but also industry, transport, and heat, the case for new nuclear is compelling. More than 20 countries committed to tripling global nuclear capacity by 2050. In the United States alone, the Department of Energy forecasts that the country’s current nuclear capacity could more than triple, adding 200 GW of new nuclear to the existing 95 GW by mid-century.
R. L. Nelson, N. Parkinson, W. C. L. Kent
Nuclear Technology | Volume 53 | Number 2 | May 1981 | Pages 196-203
Technical Paper | Realistic Estimates of the Consequences of Nuclear Accident / Nuclear Fuel | doi.org/10.13182/NT81-A32624
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
Future fabrication plants for breeder reactor fuel will have to be designed to more stringent personnel radiation exposure standards. Thus, it is desirable to move away from glove box operations toward fully remote operating and maintenance concepts. Experience with the manufacture of fuel for the prototype fast reactor demonstrated that processes requiring frequent and skilled adjustment are to be avoided and that the essential requirement for a remote fabrication route is that it be stable, tolerant, and readily meet product specifications. The equipment selected must be reliable and have low maintenance requirements. Maintenance is perceived as a crucial area, and concepts under consideration for future plants involve the remote removal, decontamination,and replacement of equipment modules or assemblies. A vibro-compaction technique for filling fuel pins, which consists of a single infiltration of a coarse bed of spheres with fine spheres, is considered to have high potential for upscale in a remote operation. The gel precipitation route to 800- and 80-nm spheres of (U,Pu)O2 has been shown to yield acceptable products for vibro-compaction of fuel elements to ∼80% smear density. This wet chemical route meets many of the criteria for future remote fabrication plants and a sequential development program toward a full-scale production plant is in hand.