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Launching into tomorrow: NRIC guides new era of research and deployment
In June 2025, the Department of Energy announced the Reactor Pilot Program, an authorization pathway that allowed reactor developers to partner with the DOE to get first-of-a-kind (FOAK) reactors built and tested. Soon after, the DOE rolled out a complementary Fuel Line Pilot Program, which aimed to fast-track fuel projects. In all, 20 projects were accepted into the new programs.
Keith F. Dufrane, Michael D. Naughton
Nuclear Technology | Volume 63 | Number 1 | October 1983 | Pages 102-109
Technical Paper | Material | doi.org/10.13182/NT83-A33306
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
Cobalt-60 has been identified as the principal isotope responsible for the buildup of radiation in light water reactors. The 60Co is produced from stable cobalt being released to the coolant and becoming activated to 60Co during residence in the core. The release occurs because of the corrosion and wear of cobalt-containing alloys exposed to the coolant. This study was directed toward measuring the cobalt released by wear of cobalt-based alloys. Plastic replicas were made of worn components during maintenance outages. Subsequent profilometer measurements were made on the replicas using nearby unworn areas as reference surfaces to enable a calculation of the cobalt released by wear. The calculated release rates on a variety of seven components were estimated from 0.04 g/yr for a main coolant pump on a pressurized water reactor to 30 g/yr for a feedwater regulator valve on a boiling water reactor.