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Conference Spotlight
2026 Annual Conference
May 31–June 3, 2026
Denver, CO|Sheraton Denver
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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
What’s the most difficult question you’ve been asked as a maintenance instructor?
Blye Widmar
"Where are the prints?!"
This was the final question in an onslaught of verbal feedback, comments, and critiques I received from my students back in 2019. I had two years of instructor experience and was teaching a class that had been meticulously rehearsed in preparation for an accreditation visit. I knew the training material well and transferred that knowledge effectively enough for all the students to pass the class. As we wrapped up, I asked the students how they felt about my first big system-level class, and they did not hold back.
“Why was the exam from memory when we don’t work from memory in the plant?” “Why didn’t we refer to the vendor documents?” “Why didn’t we practice more on the mock-up?” And so on.
Kozo Katsuyama, Koji Maeda, Tsuyoshi Nagamine, Hirotaka Furuya
Nuclear Technology | Volume 169 | Number 1 | January 2010 | Pages 73-80
Technical Paper | Radiation Measurements and Instrumentation | doi.org/10.13182/NT10-A9344
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
Three-dimensional X-ray computer tomography (CT) images were successfully taken of a fast breeder reactor fuel assembly that had been irradiated to high burnup. The interior and outside of the fuel assembly can be clearly observed on any cross section from any angle. These images make it possible to analyze deformations and microstructural changes in the fuel pins and abnormalities in the fuel assembly. An analysis was made for 127 central voids, i.e., one in each fuel pin of the traverse cross section, and the void sizes were tentatively related to the linear heat rating. Compared with conventional nondestructive and destructive postirradiation examinations (PIEs), this X-ray CT technique has great advantages including acquiring large numbers of PIE data in a short time, reducing PIE costs, reducing the amounts of radioactive waste generation, and physically protecting nuclear materials.
