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Swiss nuclear power and the case for long-term operation
Designed for 40 years but built to last far longer, Switzerland’s nuclear power plants have all entered long-term operation. Yet age alone says little about safety or performance. Through continuous upgrades, strict regulatory oversight, and extensive aging management, the country’s reactors are being prepared for decades of continued operation, in line with international practice.
Sajid Iqbal, Muhmood ul Hassan, Ho Jin Ryu, Jong-Il Yun (KAIST)
Proceedings | 2018 International Congress on Advances in Nuclear Power Plants (ICAPP 2018) | Charlotte, NC, April 8-11, 2018 | Pages 623-627
We have investigated the low temperature sintering behavior of pure hydroxyapatite (HA) and silica incorporated HA for the immobilizing radioactive nuclear waste. Solid state sintering conditions were optimized at 200 ?C by applying a uniaxial pressure of 400 MPa for a short holding time (10 min). The results from high resolution x-ray diffraction, Fourier transform infra-red spectroscopy, micro hardness, and high resolution scanning electron microscopy confirmed the densification with enhanced mechanical properties. The increasing trend in relative sintered density has been observed with the loading amount of silica. No additional chemicals and binders were used during whole experimentation process. Therefore, this sintering route is totally environment benign, energy efficient and simplified. The ultra-low temperature can makes this sintering process widely useful for the immobilization of volatile radionuclides such as Cs-137 and I-129.