DIII-D divertor to test tungsten tiles

April 29, 2022, 7:04AMNuclear News
[CLICK to see entire image] Overview of the SAS-VW program at DIII-D. A research concept map illustrates how intense plasma exhaust power entering the divertor leads to the emergence of impurities that can migrate into the plasma core. After identifying the research requirements for the SAS-VW, a process of engineering design, prototyping, and implementation is performed. (Image: General Atomics)

Researchers at the DIII-D National Fusion Facility (DIII-D) are preparing to test a new method that could enable future fusion power plants to withstand the heat and particle flow created by the fusion reaction, General Atomics reported this week.

In focus: The Three Mile Island special report

April 28, 2022, 3:00PMNuclear News

This week’s #ThrowbackThursday post features the special report published by Nuclear News in April 1979—one month after the accident at the Three Mile Island nuclear power plant. Titled “The ordeal at Three Mile Island,” the report provides readers with a quick review of the accident, how it happened (as much as was known at the time), its immediate effects on the general public, and the public discourse that followed. It should come as no surprise that the report covers some negative responses from the public and politicians of the time, but it concludes with the responses of some policy leaders who tried to put the accident into perspective.

NRC seeks public input on Level 3 PRA project

April 28, 2022, 12:00PMNuclear News

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission is seeking input from the public regarding the first set of results from its multiyear Level 3 Probabilistic Risk Assessment Project to analyze risk at a reference two-reactor nuclear power plant site.

The project, which began in 2012, updates risk insights obtained from work done more than 30 years ago, according to the NRC. The project examines a reference site with two large pressurized water reactors and associated spent fuel. It builds on Level 1 (possible reactor core damage scenarios) and Level 2 (possible radioactive material release scenarios) analyses to estimate potential health effects and economic impacts.

Proposed DOE-EM funding would advance technology development

April 28, 2022, 9:30AMNuclear News
Savannah River National Laboratory recently oversaw a demonstration of a new radiological inspection technology called iGART, a ground-based robot that conducts radiological and nuclear inspections. The DOE’s Office of Environmental Management used the demonstration at the Savannah River Site to determine if there is an application value for iGART at SRS or other EM sites. (Photos: DOE)

The Department of Energy’s Office of Environmental Management is looking to continue developing technology to aid in site cleanup activities if its fiscal year 2023 budget request is approved. The $7.64 billion budget request includes about $25 million for EM’s Technology Development Office.

A reactor physicist explains Chernobyl

April 28, 2022, 7:00AMANS Nuclear Cafe
A screen shot from the ANS webinar, “A Reactor Physicist’s Explanation of Chernobyl,” featuring Christopher Perfetti (inset). (Source: ANS)

On the 36th anniversary of the Chernobyl nuclear accident, the American Nuclear Society held the webinar, “A Reactor Physicist’s Explanation of Chernobyl,” led by Christopher Perfetti, an assistant professor in the Nuclear Engineering Department at the University of New Mexico. (Here we use the more common Russian spelling of Chernobyl, rather than the Ukrainian spelling, Chornobyl.)

New ANS vice president/president-elect, board members elected

April 27, 2022, 3:01PMANS News

Petersen

The results of the 2022 ANS national election are in. The next vice president/president-elect will be Kenneth Petersen, recently retired from Constellation (formerly Exelon Generation). In addition, five new members were elected to the Board of Directors, and 12 proposed changes to the ANS bylaws and rules were approved.

Petersen will succeed current ANS vice president/president-elect Steven Arndt, who will assume the office of president following the upcoming ANS Annual Meeting. The current president, Steven Nesbit, will remain on the board for a one-year term as immediate past president.

“I am honored that the ANS members elected me as their next vice president/president-elect at this exciting time for nuclear technology," Petersen said. "The nuclear community is at a point where the full potential of nuclear technology can be realized. Nuclear is being recognized for its clean air and zero-carbon, baseload power attributes, while SMRs and advanced reactors are gearing up for deployment.”

ANS and HPS work together to provide information on nuclear and radiation science

April 27, 2022, 12:00PMANS News

The American Nuclear Society and the Health Physics Society are collaborating to combat misinformation on radiation and nuclear science.  As part of this effort, ANS’s Rapid Response Taskforce and HPS’s “Ask the Experts” have partnered to monitor the radiological and nuclear situation in war-besieged Ukraine and are available to answer media inquiries. 

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May presidential election could revive nuclear power in Philippines

April 27, 2022, 9:30AMANS Nuclear Cafe
The Battan nuclear power plant in Morong, Philippines. (Source: Jiru27/Wikimedia)

“If the electorate through their elected leaders demand stable or lower electricity costs, and new coal is off the table, only nuclear power offers hope,” writes nuclear engineer Joseph Somsel in reference to the Philippines presidential election, scheduled for May 9. Somsel, who expressed his views on the Nuclear Engineering International website this month, notes that the leading ticket in the election consists of presidential candidate Ferdinand Marcos Jr., son of the former dictator, and vice presidential candidate Sara Duterte, daughter of the current president. The ticket has been running ads supporting nuclear power while condemning high electricity prices.

ANS's Earth Day webinar focused on clean energy

April 27, 2022, 7:03AMANS Nuclear Cafe
Earth Day webinar participants were (clockwise from top left) Craig Piercy, Lindsey Walter, Mikal Bøe, and Shannon Bragg-Sitton. (Image: ANS)

The American Nuclear Society hosted the webinar “Earth Day: Reflections on the Future of Clean Energy” on April 22. Expert panelists discussed the best options for achieving emissions-free objectives, including goals in energy production, industrial activities, and transportation.

Online fundraising event for Ukraine to be held April 27–28

April 26, 2022, 12:01PMANS Nuclear Cafe

An open online event titled “Challenges of Ukraine’s nuclear energy in wartime” will be held on April 27 and 28. The event is sponsored by the International Conference on Nuclear Decommissioning and Environmental Recovery (INUDECO). Organizers include the Slavutych (Ukraine) City Council, the Institute for Nuclear Power Plant Safety of the National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine, and the Ukrainian Nuclear Society.

Register now. There is no fee for registration. However, funds raised from participants will be donated for humanitarian purposes. Fundraising is open now.

DOE seeks nuclear-focused partnerships with communities

April 26, 2022, 9:30AMNuclear News

The Department of Energy has issued a funding opportunity announcement (FOA) aimed at developing partnerships between the Office of Nuclear Energy (NE) and various communities. Partners will work with local energy communities, educational entities, and other constituencies to accomplish the shared mission of utilizing nuclear energy to advance energy, environmental, and economic initiatives, according to the DOE.

Europe is showing renewed interest in nuclear energy “despite danger,” says the Washington Post

April 26, 2022, 7:06AMANS Nuclear Cafe

“The war in Ukraine has intensified interest across Europe in building new nuclear energy plants or extending the lives of old ones to liberate the continent from its heavy reliance on Russian oil and natural gas,” Washington Post reporters Steven Mufson and Claire Parker write in their recent article, before describing what they view as the potential dangers of nuclear energy. They also quote the American Nuclear Society in regard to the Chernobyl nuclear site in Ukraine.

International workshop to evaluate geologic repository safety assessment software

April 25, 2022, 3:00PMRadwaste Solutions

Sandia National Laboratories engineers Emily Stein, left, and Paul Mariner discuss recent results from their Geologic Disposal Safety Assessment software framework.

Ten teams of scientists from across the globe, including teams from the United States, Canada, Germany, and Taiwan, are virtually comparing software tools developed to assess the safety performance of deep geologic repositories for nuclear waste. The virtual workshop, held this month, is being conducted by members of an international collaboration called Development of Coupled Models and their Validation against Experiments, or DECOVALEX.

“The DECOVALEX initiative creates an important framework for experts in repository sciences from around the world to test and improve simulation models that are important to assessing the safety of geologic disposal,” said Jens Birkholzer, chairman of the initiative and a senior scientist at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory.

DOE expands Minority Serving Institutions Partnership Program

April 25, 2022, 12:00PMANS Nuclear Cafe

The Department of Energy’s Office of Environmental Management (EM) is expanding its Minority Serving Institutions Partnership Program (MSIPP). The program originally included internships, competitive research awards, a postdoctoral research program, and the Savannah River Environmental Sciences Field Station. It will now include a technology curriculum, a professional development program, a graduate fellowship program, and an EM/minority-serving institution shared interest research partnership, the DOE announced on April 14.

Join ANS for the virtual event, “Budgeting for the Future of Nuclear”

April 25, 2022, 9:28AMANS News

ANS is hosting a webinar titled “Budgeting for the Future of Nuclear” on Wednesday, April 27, from 3 p.m. to 4 p.m. (EDT). Representatives from the Department of Energy will discuss the president’s fiscal year 2023 budget request.

Register Now. The webinar is for ANS members only.

Chicago Tribune editorial board asks, “Is nuclear power good for Illinois?”

April 25, 2022, 7:00AMANS Nuclear Cafe
The Byron nuclear power plant

In an editorial published recently in the Chicago Tribune, the newspaper’s editorial board states, “As for the U.S., power generation from splitting atoms has declined in recent years, and more reactors are being retired than built. If you’re in Illinois, however, you’re all-in on nuclear energy—for better or worse. Gov. J.B. Pritzker has made sure of that.”

University programs: The many areas of research

April 21, 2022, 4:09PMUpdated April 22, 2022, 10:03AMNuclear News

Nuclear News reached out to the Nuclear Engineering Department Heads Organization (NEDHO) to ask for assistance in connecting with nuclear engineering programs at U.S. universities. Our request to the universities was to provide us with updates on their programs and to detail their areas of special interest.

ANS in-person meetings are back!

April 22, 2022, 9:35AMANS Nuclear Cafe

After nearly two years of challenging absence, ANS meetings in 2022 have returned to being fully in-person events.

The theme for this year’s in-person ANS Annual Meeting, to be held June 12–16 in Anaheim, Calif., is “The New Outlook.” The meeting will feature two new events that serve to expand networking opportunities for attendees:

  • First, a career fair will be held on Monday, June 13, and Tuesday, June 14, from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. local time. This live event comes on the heels of two successful virtual career fairs held during the pandemic. ANS hopes that student and young members will be able to take advantage of the opportunity to network and explore the many different career possibilities.
  • Second, a dinner hosted by ANS President Steven Nesbit and Vice President/President-Elect Steven Arndt will be held the evening of Tuesday, June 14, and will be a celebration of ANS and the nuclear community.

DOE awards grant to Constellation to study direct air capture technology

April 22, 2022, 9:30AMNuclear News

The Department of Energy has awarded a grant worth $2.5 million to Constellation and its project partners to investigate the potential benefits of direct air capture (DAC) technology at its Byron nuclear power plant in Illinois. DAC would remove carbon dioxide directly from the atmosphere, a possible next-generation technology to help combat climate change.