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EDF fleet update has encouraging news for U.K. nuclear industry
The EDF Group’s Nuclear Operations business, which is the majority owner of the five operating and three decommissioning nuclear power plant sites in the United Kingdom, has released its annual update on the U.K. fleet. UK Nuclear Fleet Stakeholder Update: Powering an Electric Britain includes a positive review of the previous year’s performance and news of a billion-dollar boost in the coming years to maximize output across the fleet.
Alireza Behbahani, James N. Anno
Nuclear Technology | Volume 111 | Number 1 | July 1995 | Pages 70-79
Technical Paper | Material | doi.org/10.13182/NT95-A35145
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
Concern about possible radiation damage from the increasing exposure of memory disks to mild radiation environments prompted an experimental investigation into this matter. A series of programmed memory disks were exposed at near room temperatures and in an air environment to several types and intensities of radiation, with stored data retrieved before and after exposure. Initial separate exposures to alpha, beta, gamma, and neutron radiation were in the range of 5 to 15 mrad, the “upper limit” of radiation exposure that might be expected in common usage situations. Finding no permanent damage, the disks were then subjected to high-level 60Co gamma radiation to total doses up to 20 Mrad, again with no detectable postirradiation effects. Finally, the disks were subjected to high-level neutrons (up to 2.86 x 1011 n/cm2 total thermal neutron fluence) as well as to gammas in a research reactor. Postulated radiation damage mechanisms apparently were not consequential. It is concluded that in the range investigated, radiation damage to memory disks is not significant to their ability to function.