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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.
J. C. Nomine, J. F. Ferriot
Nuclear Technology | Volume 115 | Number 2 | August 1996 | Pages 214-227
Technical Paper | Characterization of Radioactive Waste in France / Radioactive Waste Management | doi.org/10.13182/NT96-A35268
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Performing leach tests provides quality assurance and verification that radioactive waste packages are acceptable for final shallow land burial, in accordance with environmental policy. An overview assessment was completed on the leaching tests and on the leachability of various waste forms, regarding both the industrial and the research and development aspects of the leachability and illustrated by several examples. The most important aspects extracted from this overview are as follows: 1. Leaching tests must be performed on all types of package candidates for an ultimate near-surface disposal whatever the waste form: The corresponding results are necessary for the safety assessment demonstration of the disposal site. 2. Representativeness of leached specimens remains to be fully proved, especially when they are small samples (problems of size and also of leached surface). 3. Quality of the waste packages whose type has been accepted should be periodically audited to establish deviations from the quality agreed on. 4. An exhaustive material balance of the released activity in leachates and fixed on surfaces must be established when performing leaching tests, especially for alpha emitters that can become attached to surfaces in the leaching loops. 5. Influence of temperature and pressure on the leaching results have been identified as important factors for cesium leaching of cemented waste. 6. More generally, there has been good progress in leaching knowledge, but the influence of many parameters, such as durability effect on leaching, remains incompletely defined.