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Decommissioning & Environmental Sciences
The mission of the Decommissioning and Environmental Sciences (DES) Division is to promote the development and use of those skills and technologies associated with the use of nuclear energy and the optimal management and stewardship of the environment, sustainable development, decommissioning, remediation, reutilization, and long-term surveillance and maintenance of nuclear-related installations, and sites. The target audience for this effort is the membership of the Division, the Society, and the public at large.
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2024 ANS Annual Conference
June 16–19, 2024
Las Vegas, NV|Mandalay Bay Resort and Casino
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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
Oklo to collaborate with Atomic Alchemy on isotope production
Fast reactor developer Oklo, which recently went public on the New York Stock Exchange, announced on May 13 that it has signed a memorandum of understanding with Atomic Alchemy to cooperate on the production of radioisotopes for medical, energy, industry, and science applications.
Milos I. Atz, Massimiliano Fratoni
Nuclear Technology | Volume 209 | Number 8 | August 2023 | Pages 1109-1128
Research Article | doi.org/10.1080/00295450.2023.2189430
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
Decay heat is an important constraint for repository size and design because it can drive processes that affect performance and compromise critical materials. This paper investigates how compliance with repository thermal limits is affected by three decay heat management strategies: waste package loading, waste package spacing, and surface storage time. In particular, this paper focuses on how repository area, a result of package spacing, is impacted by waste loading and surface storage time. A two-part analytical heat transfer model is presented and executed iteratively to determine the minimum allowable repository area. The analysis considers three generic close-contact repository designs along with the wastes generated from the 40 fuel cycle analysis examples used to generate metric data for the Fuel Cycle Evaluation and Screening study.
Detailed results are presented for two fuel cycles: the once-through use of low-enriched uranium fuel in light water reactors and the continuous recycling of U and Pu in sodium fast reactors. Two limits for surface storage time are identified: the time required for disposal to be possible at all and the time at which further surface storage time yields no gains. The impact of waste loading is also diminished with increasing surface storage time. In general, the generic salt repository is most flexible to accept high-heat-generating wastes with less surface storage time than other repository environments. Limited-recycle fuel cycles are shown to pose a disposal challenge because of elevated, sustained decay heat generation in the waste.