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Fuel Cycle & Waste Management
Devoted to all aspects of the nuclear fuel cycle including waste management, worldwide. Division specific areas of interest and involvement include uranium conversion and enrichment; fuel fabrication, management (in-core and ex-core) and recycle; transportation; safeguards; high-level, low-level and mixed waste management and disposal; public policy and program management; decontamination and decommissioning environmental restoration; and excess weapons materials disposition.
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2025 ANS Annual Conference
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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.
Hans Huschka, Guenther Luthardt, Volker E. Portscher
Nuclear Technology | Volume 66 | Number 3 | September 1984 | Pages 562-569
F. Hydrogen and Tritium Permeation | Status of Metallic Materials Development for Application in Advanced High-Temperature Gas-Cooled Reactor / Material | doi.org/10.13182/NT84-A33478
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
One crucial point of the prototype nuclear process heat is the permeation of hydrogen isotopes through the walls of the heat exchanger materials. The in situ growth of oxide layers provides an effective barrier against hydrogen permeation. Basic investigations with a large scope of heat-resistant alloys have been carried out by Kernforschungsanlage (KFA) Jülich. Further research has been done by NUKEM and Maschinenfabrik Augsburg-Nürnberg, Neue Technologie, to develop superior coatings that are effective from reactor startup. The NUKEM procedure is a simple and cost-efficient method. It comprises oxidation of the disk-shaped metal samples in excess steam (with or without addition of other gases) at elevated temperatures in a once-through manner. Adjustments of various parameters are being made to work out the conditions for optimal quality of the oxides on several alloys. Evaluation is based on permeation measurements with deuterium in the Deuperm facility of KFA. In some cases, tritium permeability was determined at the University of Münster. Backup information is provided by scanning electron microscope analysis, diffractometry, and microprobe examination. First coating experiments with steam/air yielded duplex scales consisting of an inner oxide, which is mainly Cr2O3 and an outer layer of the spinel type containing iron, nickel, and chromium, as well as some manganese throughout the scale. A compositional shift toward chromium oxide monolayers obtained with oxidation in steam correlates with improved permeation properties. Their quality depends strongly on various parameters of the procedure, which are currently being optimized. These are chiefly surface grinding, recrystallization annealing, and possibly thermocycling. For Hastelloy-X, best results are obtained with steam oxidation at 1000°C. Until now, permeability has been reduced by a factor of several hundred with disk specimens. Postoxidation by means of process gas exposure at Rheinbraun further increased the factor to over one thousand, the same as with tube specimens in Auwarm. The adherence to the metal matrix is excellent throughout; no spalling has been observed.
