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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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Deep Space: The new frontier of radiation controls
In commercial nuclear power, there has always been a deliberate tension between the regulator and the utility owner. The regulator fundamentally exists to protect the worker, and the utility, to make a profit. It is a win-win balance.
From the U.S. nuclear industry has emerged a brilliantly successful occupational nuclear safety record—largely the result of an ALARA (as low as reasonably achievable) process that has driven exposure rates down to what only a decade ago would have been considered unthinkable. In the U.S. nuclear industry, the system has accomplished an excellent, nearly seamless process that succeeds to the benefit of both employee and utility owner.
Krishna Moorthi Sankar, Preet M. Singh
Nuclear Technology | Volume 210 | Number 11 | November 2024 | Pages 2074-2090
Research Article | doi.org/10.1080/00295450.2024.2309600
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
It has been widely acknowledged that the presence of impurities in molten fluoride salt can alter the salt/material interactions. However, the effects of various impurities such as oxides, metal fluorides, reducing impurities, etc., on the behavior of nuclear-grade graphite in molten fluoride salts have not been reported. This study focuses on understanding the effects of various oxidizing and reducing impurities on the wetting and infiltration behavior of molten FLiNaK salt for nuclear-grade IG-110 graphite.
Our results suggest that different impurities can cause different effects on nuclear graphite–molten salt interactions, with some impurities leading to significant degradation of the graphite. Our results demonstrate that certain impurities, such as Cr2O3 and CrF3, lead to a limited increase in wetting and infiltration of molten salt into nuclear graphite, while impurities such as Li2O lead to significantly increased wetting and infiltration throughout the cross section of the graphite specimen. Certain impurities, such as Li, can also lead to significant degradation of the graphite in the salt, with the extent of degradation increasing with the increase in the quantity of Li added.
Our results also demonstrate that firing of IG-110 graphite at 900°C under a reducing atmosphere made the graphite surface resistant to wetting by molten FLiNaK salt, as compared to the nonfired sample.
