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Conference Spotlight
2026 ANS Annual Conference
May 31–June 3, 2026
Denver, CO|Sheraton Denver
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Latest News
DOE signs two more OTAs in Reactor Pilot Program
This week, the Department of Energy has finalized two new other transaction agreements (OTAs) with participating companies in its Reactor Pilot Program, which aims to get one or two fast-tracked reactors on line by July 4 of this year. Those companies are Terrestrial Energy and Oklo.
Simcha Stroes-Gascoyne, Lawrence H. Johnson, Dennis M. Sellinger
Nuclear Technology | Volume 77 | Number 3 | June 1987 | Pages 320-330
Technical Paper | Radioactive Waste Management | doi.org/10.13182/NT87-A33972
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
Safety assessment of the used fuel disposal concept requires a study of the integrity of used fuel in contact with groundwater. In this context, the initial release of 137Cs and I29I from used Canada deuterium uranium fuel segments, exposed to water at 25°C, has been studied as a function of fuel irradiation history. Percentages of inventories released after 5 days of leaching are compared to stable xenon fuel-sheath gap inventories. Cesium-137/xenon and 129I/xenon release ratios average ∼0.2 for low linear power rating (LLPR) fuel. For high linear power rating fuel, ratios are considerably larger and may approach 1. For LLPR fuel, the ratios become larger when the leaching time is increased. It is proposed that these differences are related to the microstructure of used fuel. The results indicate that the source term for the instantaneous release of isotopes of cesium and iodine should include all of the fuel-sheath gap inventory. Power history data and calculated gas release data can be used to accurately estimate the contribution of the fuel-sheath gap inventory to the source term for radionuclide release.
