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Nuclear Installations Safety
Devoted specifically to the safety of nuclear installations and the health and safety of the public, this division seeks a better understanding of the role of safety in the design, construction and operation of nuclear installation facilities. The division also promotes engineering and scientific technology advancement associated with the safety of such facilities.
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Utility Working Conference and Vendor Technology Expo (UWC 2024)
August 4–7, 2024
Marco Island, FL|JW Marriott Marco Island
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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
Vogtle-3 shuts down for valve issue
One of the new Vogtle units in Georgia was shut down unexpectedly on Monday last week for a valve issue that has since been investigated and repaired. According to multiple local news outlets, Georgia Power reported on July 17 that Unit 3 was back in service.
Southern Company spokesperson Jacob Hawkins confirmed that Vogtle-3 went off line at 9:25 p.m. local time on July 8 “due to lowering water levels in the steam generators caused by a valve issue on one of the three main feedwater pumps.”
Alan R. Krauss, A. B. DeWald, P. Scott, H. Savage
Fusion Science and Technology | Volume 19 | Number 3 | May 1991 | Pages 913-920
Advanced Reactor | doi.org/10.13182/FST91-A29461
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
The next generation of long pulse fusion devices will impose severe requirements on the properties of plasma-facing materials. In devices such as ITER, a divertor design is being considered, using a divertor plate which would be either tungsten or a low-Z material such as graphite or beryllium. Graphite and beryllium have a relatively high light ion erosion rate. Tungsten has a much lower sputtering rate for light ion impact, but it is subject to runaway self-sputtering. Because of its limited thermal conductivity, it must be used as a relatively thin plate which might be subject to damage during a disruption. Strongly segregating lithium alloys have been proposed as a means of producing a self-sustaining low-Z overlayer which lowers plasma Zeff and resists self-sputtering. Aluminum-lithium alloys are among the better-characterized lithium-bearing alloys, and it has been demonstrated that lithium segregates strongly in aluminum. However, aluminum has a relatively low melting point, and for low lithium concentrations, the lithium diffusion rate is too slow to replenish lithium at the rate at which it is eroded by the incoming plasma. It has been suggested previously that the β phase Al-Li alloy (48–54 at.% Li) should have high enough diffusivity to be able to replenish surface lithium, and that incorporation of the β-phase AlLi in a composite with tungsten would provide improved high temperature strength and melt layer stability, along with significantly better thermal conductivity than pure tungsten. Such a composite has been fabricated, as well as a variation containing titanium as a means of controlling oxidation at grain boundaries. The Li overlayer formation, erosion, and replenishment are characterized for the β-phase LiAl alloy, and W-AlLi and W-Ti-AlLi composites. It is found that Li diffusion is extremely rapid, and the composites form an oxygen-free Li overlayer which is stable under continuous ion beam sputtering.