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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.
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Nuclear Energy Conference & Expo (NECX)
September 8–11, 2025
Atlanta, GA|Atlanta Marriott Marquis
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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
NextGen MURR Working Group established in Missouri
The University of Missouri’s Board of Curators has created the NextGen MURR Working Group to serve as a strategic advisory body for the development of the NextGen MURR (University of Missouri Research Reactor).
Zhenze Li, Thanh Son Nguyen, Matthew Herod, Julie Brown, Hamed Mozafarishamsi
Nuclear Technology | Volume 210 | Number 9 | September 2024 | Pages 1535-1548
Research Article | doi.org/10.1080/00295450.2023.2240160
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
Natural analogues are systems that have evolved over geological timescales with features similar to one or several components of a deep geological repository (DGR). Natural analogues complement short-duration laboratory studies since they are existing reflections of many long-term processes that might affect the performance of a repository. Mathematical models are often used for the post-closure safety assessment of a DGR. Confidence in the models’ predictions is enhanced when the models successfully simulate the past evolution of a natural analogue. This paper summarizes the Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission’s (CNSC’s) recent research on natural analogues to inform on (1) glacial erosion, (2) engineered barrier system, and (3) uranium reactive transport in the context of DGRs for radioactive wastes. Glaciation and its erosion are prominent factors impacting the performance of future DGRs at high latitudes in the northern hemisphere. The authors have reviewed the field data from the Greenland Analogue Project, developed a conceptual and mathematical model for the simulation of the thermal conditions within the Greenland ice sheet, as well as the thermal-hydraulic conditions at its base and the ice sheet velocity, and eventually estimated the erosion rate at the site.
The Cigar Lake Analogue demonstrates the long-term radionuclide containment capability of the illite clay zone enveloping the ore body, serving as an analogy to the engineered clay barriers. The CNSC and University of Ottawa analyzed 129I in the Cigar Lake core samples, and modeled and correlated the diffusion-dominated transport of radionuclides over the geological evolution of the Cigar Lake deposit. The results provide information on the mobility of fission products and significant radionuclides in conditions analogous to the source, engineered barriers, and near-field host rock of a DGR.
The reactive transport and geochemistry of the Kiggavik-Andrew Lake uranium deposit mineralization and remobilization was another natural uranium deposit analogue studied by the CNSC. A reactive transport model was established according to the conceptualized geochemical processes and run under specified boundary and initial conditions to validate the geochemical processes. The geometry, timing, geochemistry, and fluid composition were used as model constraints.