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Operations & Power
Members focus on the dissemination of knowledge and information in the area of power reactors with particular application to the production of electric power and process heat. The division sponsors meetings on the coverage of applied nuclear science and engineering as related to power plants, non-power reactors, and other nuclear facilities. It encourages and assists with the dissemination of knowledge pertinent to the safe and efficient operation of nuclear facilities through professional staff development, information exchange, and supporting the generation of viable solutions to current issues.
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2024 ANS Annual Conference
June 16–19, 2024
Las Vegas, NV|Mandalay Bay Resort and Casino
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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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Glass strategy: Hanford’s enhanced waste glass program
The mission of the Department of Energy’s Office of River Protection (ORP) is to complete the safe cleanup of waste resulting from decades of nuclear weapons development. One of the most technologically challenging responsibilities is the safe disposition of approximately 56 million gallons of radioactive waste historically stored in 177 tanks at the Hanford Site in Washington state.
ORP has a clear incentive to reduce the overall mission duration and cost. One pathway is to develop and deploy innovative technical solutions that can advance baseline flow sheets toward higher efficiency operations while reducing identified risks without compromising safety. Vitrification is the baseline process that will convert both high-level and low-level radioactive waste at Hanford into a stable glass waste form for long-term storage and disposal.
Although vitrification is a mature technology, there are key areas where technology can further reduce operational risks, advance baseline processes to maximize waste throughput, and provide the underpinning to enhance operational flexibility; all steps in reducing mission duration and cost.
Mélany Gouëllo, Jouni Hokkinen, Teemu Kärkelä, Ari Auvinen
Nuclear Technology | Volume 203 | Number 1 | July 2018 | Pages 66-84
Technical Paper | doi.org/10.1080/00295450.2018.1429111
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
This work is a contribution toward understanding the chemical reactions on the primary circuit surfaces involving gaseous iodine release during a severe nuclear reactor accident. Cesium iodide was used as a nonradioactive precursor material in order to highlight the effects of carrier gas composition (Ar/H2O, Ar/H2O/H2, and Ar/Air), temperature, the initial cesium/iodine (Cs/I) molar ratio by adding cesium hydroxide, and the presence of boron on the molar composition of the deposited iodine compound and on the release of gaseous iodine from the deposit. The results from the experiments involving only cesium iodide as a precursor revealed a slight decomposition of cesium iodide and a release of gaseous iodine. Furthermore, the measured gaseous iodine mass decreased with the addition of hydrogen to the carrier gas at 650°C. At 400°C, the amount of released material (aerosol and gas) was decreased. However, whereas at 650°C the sampled iodine existed mainly as aerosols, the mass concentration recorded from the experiment at 400°C indicated a predominance of gaseous iodine. When the initial Cs/I molar ratio was significantly greater than unity (1.5 < Cs/I < 4.5), the mass of produced gaseous iodine was barely detectable, suggesting a reaction between cesium hydroxide and the gaseous iodine released from cesium iodide decomposition. In the presence of boron, the transport of gaseous iodine was increased as a result of the formation of glassy cesium borate in the evaporation crucible. The presence of steam and its quantity were shown to have an enhancing influence on the cesium borate formation and on the release of gaseous iodine.