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Conference Spotlight
2026 Annual Conference
May 31–June 3, 2026
Denver, CO|Sheraton Denver
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
BWRX-300 SMR passes U.K. regulatory milestone
GE Vernova Hitachi Nuclear Energy’s BWRX-300 small modular reactor has completed the second step of the generic design assessment (GDA) process in the United Kingdom. In this step, the U.K. Office for Nuclear Regulation, the Environment Agency, and Natural Resources Wales did not identify “any fundamental safety, security safeguard or environmental protection shortfalls with the design of the BWRX-300.” Step 1 was completed in December 2024.
F. Kyle Reed, M. Nance Ericson, N. Dianne Bull Ezell, Roger A. Kisner, Lei Zuo, Haifeng Zhang, Robert Flammang
Nuclear Technology | Volume 208 | Number 10 | October 2022 | Pages 1497-1510
Technical Paper | doi.org/10.1080/00295450.2022.2057776
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
Dry cask storage is one of two storage methods approved by the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission for spent fuel after removal from reactor cores. Dry casks consist of a stainless steel canister enclosed in a concrete overpack to contain the hazardous radioactive spent fuel rods and provide radiation shielding. Monitoring spent fuel storage casks is desired to ensure the safe containment of the enclosed spent fuel, but is very difficult due to the related harsh temperature and radiation environment. The sensors and associated electronics to monitor temperature, pressure, and/or radiation need to survive high temperatures and radiation doses for extended time periods. For this reason, there is a severe need for radiation-hardened electrical systems that survive well beyond the existing capabilities of commercially available radiation-rated electronic components, which have primarily been developed for space applications. Junction-gate field-effect transistor (JFET) devices are inherently radiation hardened [exceeding 100 Mrad (Si)]. When JFETs are used as building blocks for sensing and communication electronics (i.e., oscillators, amplifiers, filters, and mixers), inherently radiation-hardened circuits can be achieved. To this end, JFET-based radiation-hardened electronics interfacing with cask-embedded sensors capable of driving modulated sensor signals through a stainless steel barrier were designed and tested at a dose rate of approximately 500 krad/h (Si) to beyond a 200-Mrad (Si) total ionizing dose. After 200 Mrad (Si), the sensor and communication circuit signals were correctly decoded at the receiver despite oscillator drift. The results from this experiment demonstrate the potential for creating more complex radiation-hardened JFET-based electrical systems for nuclear environments.