As demands for a comprehensive U.S. waste management plan increase, private vendors are certifying new SNF/HLW transportation cask designs.
A large-scale campaign to move spent nuclear fuel and high-level radioactive waste in the United States to a central repository or interim storage site does not appear to be coming anytime soon. External pressures, however, including a growing number of nuclear power plant closures and increased stakeholder demand to remove stranded spent fuel and HLW, are shifting focus to building the infrastructure needed to move large volumes of waste. This includes the design and manufacture of shielded transportation casks for shipping the waste by truck or rail.
In its ongoing effort to keep its criteria relevant, ABET has revised its student outcome and curriculum requirements.
ABET, originally an acronym for the Accreditation Board for Engineering and Technology, is a nonprofit, nongovernmental organization that accredits college and university programs in the disciplines of applied and natural science, computing, engineering, and engineering technology. ABET accredits degrees at the associate, bachelor’s, and master’s levels. Over the years, the organization has expanded its domestic and global accreditation presence, and it currently accredits over 4,000 programs in 32 countries.
An updated polymer gel from Argonne National Laboratory proves to be effective in removing radioactive contaminants from a legacy site.
The gel is applied to an area (left), where it is allowed to work for two to three hours before being removed. The final activity of the cleaned area (right) was counted using HPGe and Ludlum alpha/beta radiation detectors. Photos courtesy of ANL.
Current techniques for radiological decontamination often involve debasing or demolishing structures to contain contaminated dust and haul debris away. This is a costly method of decontaminating buildings and structures. If, however, effective nondestructive methods can be found, significant savings are possible. One such method, based on new research from engineers at the Department of Energy’s Argonne National Laboratory in Lemont, Ill., is now available.
The geologic repository for defense-related transuranic waste reached a milestone in 2019.
February 10, 2020, 7:38AMRadwaste SolutionsJef Lucchini, Robert Kehrman, and George Basabilvazo 
Participants to the 2017 Nuclear Criticality Safety Division topical meeting attended a tour of the WIPP facility, which marked its 20th anniversary this past year. Photos courtesy of WIPP
March 26, 2019, marked the 20th anniversary of the first shipment of transuranic (TRU) waste to the Waste -Isolation Pilot Plant (WIPP) facility in southeastern New Mexico. Celebrations of the 20-year mark of waste operations recognized the role of the WIPP facility in cleaning up legacy TRU waste from 22 generator sites nationwide.
The NWTRB offers findings and recommendations to the DOE on technical issues that need to be addressed in preparing for an integrated, nationwide program to transport nuclear waste.
The U.S. Nuclear Waste Technical Review Board (NWTRB or Board) recently completed an evaluation of Department of Energy activities related to transporting spent nuclear fuel (SNF) and high-level radioactive waste. These topics have been the subject of several Board meetings and associated reports, and in September 2019, the Board issued a report, Preparing for Nuclear Waste Transportation–Technical Issues That Need to Be Addressed in Preparing for a Nationwide Effort to Transport Spent Nuclear Fuel and High-Level Radioactive Waste [1], which focuses on the issues DOE will need to address to plan and implement an integrated transportation program. In its report, the Board describes 30 broad technical issues that DOE needs to address and offers three sets of findings and recommendations.
The interior of the process building at the American Centrifuge Plant in Piketon, Ohio, where Centrus Energy plans to operate a HALEU demonstration cascade by June 2022. (Photo: Centrus Energy)
Advanced reactor cores are being designed for higher efficiencies and longer lifetimes, but to get there, they need high-assay low-enriched uranium (HALEU).
Enriched to between 5 and 19.75 percent fissile U-235, HALEU is packed with nuclear potential. It can be used as a feedstock for the demonstration of new fuel designs, from uranium alloys to ceramic pellets and liquid fuels. Those fuels can enable advanced reactor and microreactor demonstrations. Operating light-water reactors could potentially transition to HALEU uranium oxide fuels for extended operating cycles and improved plant economics.
A recent Nuclear News editorial raised the question, “Good news, anyone?” and cited a March Gallup poll as one sign of possible good news (