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Division Spotlight
Reactor Physics
The division's objectives are to promote the advancement of knowledge and understanding of the fundamental physical phenomena characterizing nuclear reactors and other nuclear systems. The division encourages research and disseminates information through meetings and publications. Areas of technical interest include nuclear data, particle interactions and transport, reactor and nuclear systems analysis, methods, design, validation and operating experience and standards. The Wigner Award heads the awards program.
Meeting Spotlight
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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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.
B. A. Gusev, I. S. Orlenkov, L. N. Moskvin, N. G. Sandler, A. A. Efimov, А. M. Aleshin, V. V. Krivobokov, V. N. Vavilkin
Nuclear Technology | Volume 206 | Number 5 | May 2020 | Pages 791-803
Technical Note | doi.org/10.1080/00295450.2019.1693216
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
The technologies and chemical solutions for decontamination of high-power reactors are limited for use in small-scale power generation due to fundamental differences in operating conditions, fuel composition, fuel-element cladding structure, coolant water chemistry, and structural materials. The small space of the primary circuit and specific design and operational features have made it necessary to optimize the decontamination technologies for different stages of the naval rector plant (NRP) life cycle. Based on many years’ experience in maintenance, repair, and operation of NRPs, the principles for optimization of the process approaches are defined to reduce radioactive contamination of NRP equipment. In each particular case the decontamination technology is selected with due consideration for the NRP’s design, actual radioactive contamination, and the requirements for the cleanliness of the primary system after decontamination. This makes it possible to optimize the number of treatment cycles/stages and reagent consumption and to minimize the probability of recurrent deposit formation and the liquid radwaste amount.
