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Nuclear Energy Conference & Expo (NECX)
September 8–11, 2025
Atlanta, GA|Atlanta Marriott Marquis
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Ho Nieh nominated to the NRC
Nieh
President Trump recently nominated Ho Nieh for the role of commissioner in the Nuclear Regulatory Commission through the remainder of a term that will expire June 30, 2029.
Nieh has been the vice president of regulatory affairs at Southern Nuclear since 2021, though he is currently working as a loaned executive at the Institute of Nuclear Power Operations, where he has been for more than a year.
Nieh’s experience: Nieh started his career at the Knolls Atomic Power Laboratory, where he worked primarily as a nuclear plant engineer and contributed as a civilian instructor in the U.S. Navy’s Nuclear Power Program.
From there, he joined the NRC in 1997 as a project engineer. In more than 19 years of service at the organization, he served in a variety of key leadership roles, including division director of Reactor Projects, division director of Inspection and Regional Support, and director of the Office of Nuclear Reactor Regulation.
Robert E. Einziger, James A. Cook
Nuclear Technology | Volume 69 | Number 1 | April 1985 | Pages 55-71
Technical Paper | Nuclear Fuel | doi.org/10.13182/NT85-A33595
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
A whole-rod test was conducted at 229 °C to investigate the long-term stability of light water reactor spent fuel rods with artificially induced defects stored in inert and unlimited air atmospheres. Both boiling water reactor (BWR) and pressurized water reactor (PWR) rods were tested. After 2235 h, visual observations, diametral measurements, and radiographic smears were used to assess the degree of cladding deformation and particulate release. The same examinations plus metallography and x-ray analysis were conducted after 5962 h. Neither of the breached rods tested in inert atmosphere, nor the breached PWR rod tested in unlimited air, showed any measurable change from the pretest condition. The upper defect on the BWR rod tested in unlimited air had a 12.7-mm split after 2235 h and had 10% cladding deformation. The crack grew to 63.5 mm after 5962 h. X-ray analysis indicated that the UO2 had oxidized to U3O8 at this defect. The difference in the behavior of the upper and lower defects is attributed to the accessibility of the air to the fuel due to the positioning of the defect with relation to the pellet/pellet interface.
