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 Nuclear Energy Conference & Expo (NECX)
August 24–27, 2026
Dallas, TX|Hilton Anatole
Latest Magazine Issues
Jun 2026
Jan 2026
2026
Latest Journal Issues
Nuclear Science and Engineering
August 2026
Nuclear Technology
July 2026
Fusion Science and Technology
Latest News
Launching into tomorrow: NRIC guides new era of research and deployment
In June 2025, the Department of Energy announced the Reactor Pilot Program, an authorization pathway that allowed reactor developers to partner with the DOE to get first-of-a-kind (FOAK) reactors built and tested. Soon after, the DOE rolled out a complementary Fuel Line Pilot Program, which aimed to fast-track fuel projects. In all, 20 projects were accepted into the new programs.
Judith A. Bezdecny, Kevin M. Vance, Douglass L. Henderson
Nuclear Technology | Volume 110 | Number 3 | June 1995 | Pages 369-395
Technical Note | Actinide Burning and Transmutation Special / Nuclear Fuel Cycle | doi.org/10.13182/NT95-A35108
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
The purpose of the Los Alamos National Laboratory Accelerator Transmutation of (Nuclear) Waste (ATW) project is the substantial reduction in volume of long-lived high-level radioactive waste of the United States in a safe and energy-efficient manner. An evaluation of the ATW concept has four aspects: material balance, energy balance, performance, and cost. An evaluation of the material balance compares the amount of long-lived high-level waste transmuted with the amount and type of waste created in the process. One component of the material balance is the activation of structural materials over the lifetime of the transmutation reactor. A preliminary radioactivity and radioactive mass balance analysis has been performed on four structure regions of the reaction chamber: the tungsten target, the lead annulus, six tubing materials carrying the actinide slurry, and five reaction vessel structural materials. The amount of radioactive material remaining after a 100-yr cooling period for the base-case ATW was found to be 338 kg of radionuclides. The bulk of this material (313 kg) was generated in the zirconium-niobium (Zr-Nb) actinide tubing material. Replacement of the Zr-Nb tubing material with one of the alternative tubing materials analyzed would significantly reduce the short- and long-term radioactive mass produced. The alternative vessel materials Al-6061 alloy, Tenelon, HT-9, and ; Cr-1 Mo and the alternative actinide tubing materials Al-6061 alloy, carbon-carbon matrix, silicon carbide, and Ti-6 Al-4 V qualify for shallow land burial. Alternative disposal options for the base-case structural material Type 304L stainless steel and the actinide tubing material Zr-Nb will need to be considered as neither qualifies for shallow land burial.