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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.
Chien C. Lin, J. H. Chao
Nuclear Technology | Volume 160 | Number 2 | November 2007 | Pages 244-250
Technical Paper | Radioisotopes | doi.org/10.13182/NT07-A3896
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
The main function of radiochemical surveillance in a nuclear power plant is to monitor the transport of radioactive materials in and out of various systems, including the fuel integrity evaluation and the control of radioactive material release to the environment. Radiochemical analyses of iodine activities in the reactor coolant to assess fuel integrity during normal operation and to characterize the nature of fuel failure are demonstrated. Assessment of fission products released by the so-called recoil process is emphasized in the study. Measurements of 91Sr and 92Sr in reactor water are recommended as the recoil indicators and to determine the fuel particle contamination on fuel surfaces. In an operating BWR/6 with a recoil level at ~1.2 × 1013 fission/s operated at ~2980 MW(thermal), ~30 g of fuel particle contamination was estimated.