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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.
Aamir Husain, Calvin E. Breckenridge, David Storey
Nuclear Technology | Volume 109 | Number 2 | February 1995 | Pages 265-274
Technical Paper | Reactor Operation | doi.org/10.13182/NT95-A35059
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
An in situ pipe gamma spectrometry technique was applied to determine the activity within piping during various stages of CANDU reactor decontaminations. Measurements were performed in general radiation fields up to ∼500 mR/h and required both the detector and the pipe being scanned to be appropriately shielded from other neighboring piping. Measured counts were interpreted using a pipe source efficiency calibration with due regard to its distance dependence. Cobalt-60 was the dominant radionuclide on the piping before the decontamination. Deposition of I24Sb occurred on out-core piping surfaces during the decontamination. The spectrometry measurements were supplemented with contact radiation field measurements, which were performed using survey detectors housed within specially designed pipe shields. Radiation fields estimated from measured radionuclide activities were compared with the measured radiation fields. On average, the ratio of measured to estimated fields was ∼72%. Reasons for this discrepancy are discussed.