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Decommissioning & Environmental Sciences
The mission of the Decommissioning and Environmental Sciences (DES) Division is to promote the development and use of those skills and technologies associated with the use of nuclear energy and the optimal management and stewardship of the environment, sustainable development, decommissioning, remediation, reutilization, and long-term surveillance and maintenance of nuclear-related installations, and sites. The target audience for this effort is the membership of the Division, the Society, and the public at large.
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Nuclear Energy Conference & Expo (NECX)
September 8–11, 2025
Atlanta, GA|Atlanta Marriott Marquis
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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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Latest News
Hinkley Point C gets over $6 billion in financing from Apollo
U.S.-based private capital group Apollo Global has committed £4.5 billion ($6.13 billion) in financing to EDF Energy, primarily to support the U.K.’s Hinkley Point C station. The move addresses funding needs left unmet since China General Nuclear Power Corporation—which originally planned to pay for one-third of the project—exited in 2023 amid U.K. government efforts to reduce Chinese involvement.
Robert T. Jubin, Stephanie H. Bruffey
Nuclear Technology | Volume 205 | Number 6 | June 2019 | Pages 830-846
Technical Paper | doi.org/10.1080/00295450.2018.1523639
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
During a removal of legacy materials from one hot cell at the Idaho National Laboratory in 2010, five metal capsules and some loose zeolite material were identified as krypton (Kr) immobilization test specimens produced in the late 1970s under the Airborne Waste Management Program (AWMP). This AWMP research and development effort examined the encapsulation of 85Kr within a collapsed zeolite structure for use as a potential waste form for long-term storage. The recovered capsules appeared to have been placed to the side and remained untouched after the AWMP was halted in the mid-1980s. These reclaimed capsules and loose material presented a unique opportunity to study a potential 85Kr waste form after three half-lives had elapsed. The first phase of this study included two parts: The first was to assess the physical condition of the capsule walls, and the second was to examine the Kr-containing material within the capsules. The first part of this study was previously reported and noted that substantial corrosion was observed throughout each capsule wall of the two previously breached capsules that were examined. One of these capsules had been hot isostatic pressed (HIPed) and one was not HIPed. The second part of the study examined the materials contained in the two previously breached capsules. There appears to be a relatively uniform distribution of Kr and rubidium throughout the pellets examined. The chemical composition of the pellets appears to be consistent with 5A molecular sieves. The material contained within the HIPed capsules showed ~1 at. % lead (Pb). The origin of the Pb is currently indeterminate. X-ray diffraction analysis shows a significant shift from the 5A structure, most likely due to the Kr encapsulation/sintering process that occurred when the samples were made. Calculations based on the energy dispersive spectrometry elemental analysis show a residual Kr level within the pellets that is within a factor of 2 of the reported Kr capacities for this type of processed material. This provides a clear indication that a significant fraction of the Kr initially encapsulated in the material remained within the waste form even following a significant breach of the capsule wall. As a result, it would appear that this Kr immobilization method, even in non-HIPed form, is very promising as a waste form for long-term storage. The successful analysis of these two breached capsules forms a solid basis for the future analysis of the remaining unbreached capsules, which offers the opportunity to provide an even more complete understanding of the long-term Kr retention performance of this promising waste form.