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Conference Spotlight
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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Hash Hashemian: Visionary leadership
As Dr. Hashem M. “Hash” Hashemian prepares to step into his term as President of the American Nuclear Society, he is clear that he wants to make the most of this unique moment.
A groundswell in public approval of nuclear is finding a home in growing governmental support that is backed by a tailwind of technological innovation. “Now is a good time to be in nuclear,” Hashemian said, as he explained the criticality of this moment and what he hoped to accomplish as president.
Samuel Durbin, Ramon Pulido, Philip Jones, Adrian Perales
Nuclear Technology | Volume 210 | Number 9 | September 2024 | Pages 1672-1684
Research Article | doi.org/10.1080/00295450.2024.2302727
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
The formation of a stress corrosion crack (SCC) in the canister wall of a dry cask storage system (DCSS) has been identified as a potential issue for the long-term storage of spent nuclear fuel. The presence of a SCC in a storage system could represent a through-wall flow path from the canister interior to the environment. Modern, vertical DCSSs are of particular interest due to the commercial practice of using relatively high helium backfill pressures (up to approximately 800 kPa) in the canister to enhance internal natural convection. This pressure differential offers a comparatively high driving potential for blowdown of any particulates that might be present in the canister in the event of a through-wall SCC.
In this study, the rates of gas flow and aerosol transmission of a spent fuel surrogate through an engineered microchannel with dimensions representative of a SCC were evaluated experimentally using coupled mass flow and aerosol analyzers. The microchannel was formed by mating two gauge blocks with a linearly tapering slot orifice nominally 13 μm (0.0005 in.) tall on the upstream side and 25 μm (0.001 in.) tall on the downstream side. The orifice is 12.7 mm (0.500 in.) wide by 8.89 mm (0.350 in.) long (flow length). Surrogate aerosols of cerium oxide (CeO2) were seeded and mixed with either helium or air inside a pressurized tank. The aerosol characteristics were measured immediately upstream and downstream of the simulated SCC at elevated and ambient pressures, respectively.
The next iteration of testing involves replacing the engineered microchannel with lab-grown SCCs. Preliminary clean flow testing has been conducted on SCC samples provided by the Electric Power Research Institute. These data sets demonstrate a new capability to characterize SCCs under well-controlled boundary conditions. Preliminary testing efforts are focused on understanding the evolution in both the size and quantity of a hypothetical release of aerosolized spent fuel particles from failed fuel cladding into the canister interior, and ultimately, through a SCC.
