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Conference 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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Latest News
DOE issues new NEPA rule and procedures—and accelerates DOME reactor testing
Meeting a deadline set in President Trump’s May 23 executive order “Reforming Nuclear Reactor Testing at the Department of Energy,” the DOE on June 30 updated information on its National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) rulemaking and implementation procedures and published on its website an interim final rule that rescinds existing regulations alongside new implementing procedures.
Emory D. Collins, Robert N. Morris, Joel L. McDuffee, Padhraic L. Mulligan, Jeffrey S. Delashmitt, Steven R. Sherman, Raymond J. Vedder, Robert M. Wham
Nuclear Technology | Volume 208 | Number 1 | December 2022 | Pages S18-S25
Technical Paper | doi.org/10.1080/00295450.2021.2021769
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
An alternative target design with potential improvements, including a major increase in 238Pu production rate and annual capacity; fewer targets to be fabricated, irradiated, and processed; and a significant replacement of a large volume of caustic-nitrate, aluminum-bearing radioactive liquid waste with a smaller volume of solid metal waste, has been conceived and evaluated using reactor physics and thermal-hydraulic analyses. The alternative target design uses pressed pellets of 237NpO2, sintered to 92% to 93% of theoretical density, and stacked inside a Zircaloy-4 cladding tube. Four test targets were fabricated, irradiated, and examined. No melting or other potential problems were indicated. Projections from measured constituents indicated annual production could be increased by a factor of ~2, and the number of targets required to be fabricated, irradiated, and processed could be reduced by a factor of ~5.