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 ANS Annual Conference
May 31–June 3, 2026
Denver, CO|Sheraton Denver
Latest Magazine Issues
Mar 2026
Jul 2025
Latest Journal Issues
Nuclear Science and Engineering
March 2026
Nuclear Technology
February 2026
Fusion Science and Technology
April 2026
Latest News
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.
A. V. Kiryukhin, E. P. Kaymin, E. V. Zakharova
Nuclear Technology | Volume 164 | Number 2 | November 2008 | Pages 196-206
Technical Paper | Tough206 | doi.org/10.13182/NT08-A4019
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
TOUGHREACT V1.0 modeling was used to reproduce laboratory tests involving sandstone samples collected from a deep radionuclide repository site at the Siberia Chemical Plant, Seversk, Russia. Laboratory tests included injection of alkaline fluids into sandstone samples at 70°C. Some minerals were constrained in the model to precipitate or dissolve, according to laboratory test results. Modeling results were compared with observed test data (mineral phase changes, transient concentration data at the outlet of a sample column). Reasonable agreement was obtained between calculated and measured mineral phases (Na-smectite and kaolinite precipitation, quartz, microcline, chlorite, and muscovite dissolution). After a cation exchange option was used in the model, the most abundant secondary mineral generated was dawsonite, which corresponds to sodium carbonates observed in the sample after an injection test. Time-dependent chemical concentrations (transient chemical concentration data) at the outlet of the sample column qualitatively matched the data observed.