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Meeting Spotlight
Nuclear Energy Conference & Expo (NECX)
September 8–11, 2025
Atlanta, GA|Atlanta Marriott Marquis
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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August 2025
Nuclear Technology
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July 2025
Latest News
The U.S. Million Person Study of Low-Dose-Rate Health Effects
There is a critical knowledge gap regarding the health consequences of exposure to radiation received gradually over time. While there is a plethora of studies on the risks of adverse outcomes from both acute and high-dose exposures, including the landmark study of atomic bomb survivors, these are not characteristic of the chronic exposure to low-dose radiation encountered in occupational and public settings. In addition, smaller cohorts have limited numbers leading to reduced statistical power.
Miles F. Beaux, II, Douglas R. Vodnik, Reuben J. Peterson, Bryan L. Bennett, Kevin M. Hubbard, Brian M. Patterson, Jeffrey D. Goettee, James D. Jurney, Graham M. King, Alice I. Smith, Eric L. Tegtmeier, Erik P. Luther, Venkateswara R. Dasari, (DV Rao), David J. Devlin, Igor O. Usov
Nuclear Technology | Volume 206 | Number 1 | January 2020 | Pages 23-31
Technical Paper | doi.org/10.1080/00295450.2019.1618683
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
The coating of nuclear fuel kernels with pyrolytic carbon (PyC) is a well-understood practice dating back over half a century. In spite of decades of studies related to these coatings, no study has yet investigated the effect of the PyC deposition coating process on the kernels themselves. In this study, the composition and crystallographic phase of kernel materials were observed to change after exposure to the thermal and chemical environment of the PyC coating process. Specifically, the coating process increased the fraction of high carbon content phase within carbide microsphere kernels, with W2C containing microspheres driven toward WC, and UC containing microspheres driven toward UC2. Oxide microspheres consisted of a mixture of two crystalline phases. The monoclinic phase within yttria-stabilized zirconia microspheres was eliminated by the coating process resulting in a purely tetragonal phase. Hafnium oxide microspheres were more stable showing no detectable change in composition or crystal structure after coating.