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.
Robert V. Strain, Kenny C. Gross, John D. B. Lambert, Richard P. Colburn, Toshihiro Odo
Nuclear Technology | Volume 97 | Number 2 | February 1992 | Pages 227-240
Technical Paper | Nuclear Fuel Cycle | doi.org/10.13182/NT92-A34618
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
A test containing 19 mixed-oxide fuel pins was operated in the Experimental Breeder Reactor II (EBRII) at peak cladding temperatures near 800°C. Two test pins that had been designed to fail at ∼5 at. % burnup and two low-burnup environmental pins failed and then were operated in the run beyond cladding breach mode for 22 days. Very high delayed neutron signals occurred during the irradiation of the test, and it was terminated as a result of high delayed neutron signals and evidence of plutonium in the coolant. Each of the four pins exhibited multiple breaches in the upper half of the fuel column. Measurements of fuel trapped on the filter section of a deposition sampler that was located above the test indicated that ∼2.7 g of fuel was lost during the irradiation. Postirradiation examination of the pins indicates that most of the fuel was lost from a single pin. The fuel loss resulted in an increase in the background delayed neutron signal but had no other deleterious long-term effect on the operation of the EBR-II.