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Division Spotlight
Materials Science & Technology
The objectives of MSTD are: promote the advancement of materials science in Nuclear Science Technology; support the multidisciplines which constitute it; encourage research by providing a forum for the presentation, exchange, and documentation of relevant information; promote the interaction and communication among its members; and recognize and reward its members for significant contributions to the field of materials science in nuclear technology.
Meeting Spotlight
2023 ANS Winter Conference and Expo
November 12–15, 2023
Washington, D.C.|Washington Hilton
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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Nuclear Science and Engineering
October 2023
Nuclear Technology
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Latest News
National Museum of Nuclear Science and History explores “atomic” culture
For many of us, the toys of our childhood leave indelible marks on our consciousness, affecting our long-term perceptions and attitudes about certain things. Hot Wheels may inspire a lifelong fascination with fast, flashy automobiles, while Barbies might shape ideas about beauty and self-image. For the generation who grew up during the Atomic Age—the post–World War II era from roughly the mid-1940s to the early 1960s—the toys, games, and entertainment of their childhoods might have included things like atomic pistols, atomic trains, rings with tiny amounts of radioactive elements, and comic books, puzzles, and music about nuclear weapons.
Yang Hong Jung, Hee Moon Kim
Nuclear Technology | Volume 209 | Number 4 | April 2023 | Pages 595-603
Technical Paper | doi.org/10.1080/00295450.2022.2133935
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
The oxide layer of atomized U-Mo particle nuclear fuel was analyzed using the electron probe microanalyzer (EPMA) wavelength dispersive spectroscopy (WDS) image mapping function. The density of the used nuclear fuel was 2.6 gU/cm3 and the burnup was 16.4%. Typically, measurements of the oxide layer of most nuclear fuel specimens that have been irradiated for research and experimental purposes in the Korea Atomic Energy Research Institute HANARO research reactor have been performed using metallographic equipment. But an oxide layer was not observed in the nuclear fuel used in this study. Therefore, we conducted this study to confirm the presence and thickness of the oxide layer using EPMA WDS image mapping analysis. We were able to confirm the existence of the oxide layer, but there were many shortcomings in determining the exact thickness of the oxide layer using only the identified X-ray image mapping. In this paper, we present a way to accurately measure the oxide layer by recalling the derived original X-ray values as Excel data. To accurately analyze the oxide layer derived from the image, a preliminary study was performed using samples taken from an irradiated Zr-2.5Nb pressure tube from a CANDU pressurized heavy water reactor. In the preliminary study, the exact thickness of the oxide layer measured by metallography and the results obtained by measuring the thickness of the oxide layer with Excel data obtained by X-ray mapping were compared, inferred, and applied to this study. In this study, a method of accurately measuring the thickness of an oxide layer using Excel data obtained by EPMA WDS image mapping of the oxide layer of plate-type fuel, which was not confirmed using metallography equipment, is described in detail.