ANS is committed to advancing, fostering, and promoting the development and application of nuclear sciences and technologies to benefit society.
Explore the many uses for nuclear science and its impact on energy, the environment, healthcare, food, and more.
Explore membership for yourself or for your organization.
Conference Spotlight
2026 ANS Annual Conference
May 31–June 3, 2026
Denver, CO|Sheraton Denver
Latest Magazine Issues
Mar 2026
Jul 2025
Latest Journal Issues
Nuclear Science and Engineering
March 2026
Nuclear Technology
February 2026
Fusion Science and Technology
April 2026
Latest News
NRC approves TerraPower construction permit
Today, the Nuclear Regulatory Commission announced that it has approved TerraPower’s construction permit application for Kemmerer Unit 1, the company’s first deployment of Natrium, its flagship sodium fast reactor.
This approval is a significant milestone on three fronts. For TerraPower, it represents another step forward in demonstrating its technology. For the Department of Energy, it reflects progress (despite delays) for the Advanced Reactor Demonstration Program (ARDP). For the NRC, it is the first approval granted to a commercial reactor in nearly a decade—and the first approval of a commercial non–light water reactor in more than 40 years.
Lainsu Kao, Mujid S. Kazimi
Nuclear Technology | Volume 78 | Number 2 | August 1987 | Pages 170-184
Technical Paper | Radioactive Waste Management | doi.org/10.13182/NT87-A33995
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
Analyses of the concrete attack and ex-vessel aerosol release using various assumptions for the molten corium/concrete interaction have been performed. The study involved variations in several parameters, such as initial debris temperature, amount of unoxidized zirconium, amount of melt, concrete ablation temperature, and concrete type. At high initial corium temperatures the periodic contact (nucleate-boiling-like) model leads to more rapid concrete attack, higher decomposition gas release, and higher fission product release than the gas film model. At low initial corium temperatures, when a corium crust is initially formed, the various heat transfer models do not lead to significant differences in the fission product releases. Besides the initial debris temperature, the most significant parameter in prediction of the fission product release is the amount of unoxidized zirconium. Among the various fission products, the nonvolatiles, such as lanthanum, are more sensitive to changes in the parameters.