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2025 ANS Winter Conference & Expo
November 9–12, 2025
Washington, DC|Washington Hilton
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The Standards Committee is responsible for the development and maintenance of voluntary consensus standards that address the design, analysis, and operation of components, systems, and facilities related to the application of nuclear science and technology. Find out What’s New, check out the Standards Store, or Get Involved today!
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The journey of the U.S. fuel cycle
Craig Piercycpiercy@ans.org
While most big journeys begin with a clear objective, they rarely start with an exact knowledge of the route. When commissioning the Lewis and Clark expedition in 1803, President Thomas Jefferson didn’t provide specific “turn right at the big mountain” directions to the Corps of Discovery. He gave goal-oriented instructions: explore the Missouri River, find its source, search for a transcontinental water route to the Pacific, and build scientific and cultural knowledge along the way.
Jefferson left it up to Lewis and Clark to turn his broad, geopolitically motivated guidance into gritty reality.
Similarly, U.S. nuclear policy has begun a journey toward closing the U.S. nuclear fuel cycle. There is a clear signal of support for recycling from the Trump administration, along with growing bipartisan excitement in Congress. Yet the precise path remains unclear.
Chung-Hsien Liang, Kuo-Hwa Su
Nuclear Technology | Volume 162 | Number 3 | June 2008 | Pages 333-341
Technical Paper | Nuclear Plant Operations and Control | doi.org/10.13182/NT08-A3960
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
Silica concentration in the primary coolant of a reactor coolant system of a pressurized water nuclear plant is a considerable operational issue. It also becomes a safety issue if the crud is very significant. To keep its amount to a minimum is the basic requirement for the purpose of zinc injection in the primary system and protection against its deposition on the fuel rod and poor heat transfer on the primary system and piping. A boric acid cleanup machine has been developed, designed, and installed on the base floor at the auxiliary building of the Maanshan power station of Taiwan Power Company. It is located above the boric acid tank (BAT). This machine with reverse osmosis method was used to clean up boric acid of ~62 m3 stored in the BAT. The results show that its performance has excellent efficiency and capability. The silica concentration was reduced to ~0.605 ppm from the original value of ~3.150 ppm. The resulting waste contained ~2.52 wt% of boron depending on the original boron amounts in the BAT. After the cleanup is finished, the concentration of boron in the BAT still maintains its operable and safe operating range of 7000 to 7700 ppm. Finally, the written procedure has been completed in order that the machine will be applied as a routine cleanup system.