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Meeting Spotlight
Nuclear Energy Conference & Expo (NECX)
September 8–11, 2025
Atlanta, GA|Atlanta Marriott Marquis
Standards Program
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
The U.S. Million Person Study of Low-Dose-Rate Health Effects
There is a critical knowledge gap regarding the health consequences of exposure to radiation received gradually over time. While there is a plethora of studies on the risks of adverse outcomes from both acute and high-dose exposures, including the landmark study of atomic bomb survivors, these are not characteristic of the chronic exposure to low-dose radiation encountered in occupational and public settings. In addition, smaller cohorts have limited numbers leading to reduced statistical power.
Jorge V. Carvajal, Shawn C. Stafford, Jeffrey L. Arndt, Paul M. Sirianni, Melissa M. Heagy, Emre Tatli (Westinghouse), David M. Carpenter, Yakov Ostrovsky (MIT)
Proceedings | Nuclear Plant Instrumentation, Control, and Human-Machine Interface Technolgies (NPIC&HMIT 2019) | Orlando, FL, February 9-14, 2019 | Pages 1000-1012
The development and commercial introduction of advanced nuclear reactor fuel is slowed by the long turnaround time required by the methodology’s cycle of in-core irradiation, cooling, shipping and post irradiation examination (PIE). PIE is complicated and costly due to the high activation of the irradiated fuel. During the development process, which can extend over several years, access to fuel cladding operating data is very limited. Incorporating a real-time, remote, fuel monitoring system into the fuel rod can provide critical information on such parameters as centerline fuel temperature, axial fuel pellet elongation and rod internal pressure that can enable fuel models to be adjusted in real time and accelerate the licensing approval process. By transmitting the information from the integral sensor through the cladding, penetrations into the fuel rod are avoided and the performance of the fuel is not compromised. Data on fuel performance is generated immediately on startup of the instrumented fuel rod and can continue throughout the life of the rod. This data can be used immediately to inform further fuel development activities and can also be used to target PIE activities to enhance their usefulness and reduce costs. This paper will describe the prototype sensor development, operation and results obtained during the irradiation program at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology Reactor (MITR).