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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.
Duncan W. MacArthur, Krag S. Allander, John A. Bounds, J. Lee McAtee
Nuclear Technology | Volume 102 | Number 2 | May 1993 | Pages 270-276
Technical Paper | Radiation Protection | doi.org/10.13182/NT93-A34822
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
Traditional alpha-particle contamination monitors are limited in usefulness because of the short range of alpha particles in air. This range limitation makes it impossible to adequately monitor for alpha-particle contamination on uneven surfaces and inside equipment. Personnel must be scanned manually, a procedure that is comparatively uncertain. The long-range alpha detector eliminates many of the difficulties associated with equipment and personnel monitoring by detecting the ions produced by the alpha particles interaction with the air, rather than detecting the alpha particle itself. The personnel and equipment monitors are described in detail, and other potential applications are suggested.