NRC Releases Yucca Post Closure Safety Evaluation Report (finally)

November 18, 2014, 6:35PMANS Nuclear CafeJim Hopf

hopf1Last month, the Nuclear Regulatory Commission finally released Volume 3 of the Safety Evaluation Report (SER) for the Yucca Mountain nuclear waste repository. This volume covers the post-closure evaluation of the repository, and includes all of the analyses that show that the repository will meet the stringent waste material containment requirements over the evaluated one million year period. Other volumes, which cover other areas of repository design (e.g., surface facilities, etc..), have yet to be released.

Thorium shines brightly at ANS Winter Meeting

November 14, 2014, 9:25PMANS Nuclear CafeWill Davis

I have generally been quite a skeptic about thorium as a source of nuclear fuel. Although I know that thorium was tried in the fuel at two very early commercial power reactors in the United States (Elk River, and Indian Point-1), the idea did not take off. The proposals to use thorium in fluid fuel reactors were far less successful, with none moving beyond the prototype stage. Even given the low success rate, it still remains that the use of thorium is promising.

Prompt Action Needed by ANS Members on EPA Clean Power Rule

November 7, 2014, 4:20PMANS Nuclear CafeWill Davis

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ANS President Dr. Michaele Brady Raap

American Nuclear Society President Michaele Brady Raap has released a letter calling ANS members to action-and by "action," she means making comments to the Environmental Protection Agency on its Clean Power Rule. According to Brady Raap, "the rule as it is currently structured would almost entirely discount the clean energy contributions of our current nuclear energy facilities and effectively penalize states that have new plants under construction."