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Division Spotlight
Nuclear Installations Safety
Devoted specifically to the safety of nuclear installations and the health and safety of the public, this division seeks a better understanding of the role of safety in the design, construction and operation of nuclear installation facilities. The division also promotes engineering and scientific technology advancement associated with the safety of such facilities.
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2024 ANS Annual Conference
June 16–19, 2024
Las Vegas, NV|Mandalay Bay Resort and Casino
Standards Program
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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Latest News
Commercial nuclear innovation "new space" age
In early 2006, a start-up company launched a small rocket from a tiny island in the Pacific. It exploded, showering the island with debris. A year later, a second launch attempt sent a rocket to space but failed to make orbit, burning up in the atmosphere. Another year brought a third attempt—and a third failure. The following month, in September 2008, the company used the last of its funds to launch a fourth rocket. It reached orbit, making history as the first privately funded liquid-fueled rocket to do so.
Michelangelo Durazzo, Adonis Marcelo Saliba-Silva, Rafael Henrique Lazzari Garcia, Elita Fontenele Urano De Carvalho, Humberto Gracher Riella
Nuclear Technology | Volume 200 | Number 2 | November 2017 | Pages 170-176
Technical Paper | doi.org/10.1080/00295450.2017.1353870
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
Metallic uranium is a fundamental raw material for producing nuclear fuel elements for research reactors and irradiation targets for producing 99Mo, as U3Si2, UMo alloy, UAlx, and uranium thin foils. Magnesiothermic reduction of UF4 is a possible route in the nuclear fuel cycle for producing uranium as a metal ingot. The main concern about the reducing scale to produce low-enriched (metallic) uranium (LEU) (around 1 kg) is the relatively low yield compared to calciothermic reduction. Nevertheless, the magnesiothermic reduction has the advantages of having lower cost and being a safer method for dealing with uranium processing. The magnesiothermic process, as a batch, is closed inside a sealed crucible. In the present study, in order to have a qualitative idea of the kinetics during the ignition moment, the slag projected over the lateral inner face of the crucible was used to sketch the general magnesiothermic evolution. The methods used were metallographic observation and X-ray diffraction followed by Rietveld refinement. The results of these analyses led to the conception of a general reaction development during the short time between the ignition of the reducing reaction and final settlement of the products. Relevant information from this study led to the conclusion that uranium is not primarily present in the lateral slag projection over the crucible during the reaction, and the temperature level may reach 1500°C or more, after the ignition.