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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.
Hiroshi Sugai, Kenzo Munakata, Shigehiko Miyachi, Shouzo Yasu
Nuclear Technology | Volume 98 | Number 2 | May 1992 | Pages 188-195
Technical Paper | Enrichment and Reprocessing System | doi.org/10.13182/NT92-A34674
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
In the Purex process, a solvent extraction method of nuclear fuel reprocessing, a stable emulsion called crud forms at the interface between the oil and water phases. Crud is an emulsion stabilized by finely dispersed solids. Insoluble residues and precipitates of zirconium and radiation-degraded products of tributyl phosphate (TBP) are key materials in crud formation. Cruds formed by precipitates of zirconium and TBP degradation products, such as di-n-butyl phosphate (HDBP), mono-n-butyl phosphate (H2MBP), and phosphoric acid (H3PO4) are studied. Experimental results show that the precipitate of zirconium and HDBP is not effective in stabilizing emulsions. However, the refractory complex of zirconium and H3PO4 is an important material for stabilizing an oil-in-water emulsion in a solution with or without uranium. Moreover, it is shown that the complex of zirconium and H2MBP has a significant role in stabilizing a water-in-oil emulsion, especially when uranium is also present.