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Fuel Cycle & Waste Management
Devoted to all aspects of the nuclear fuel cycle including waste management, worldwide. Division specific areas of interest and involvement include uranium conversion and enrichment; fuel fabrication, management (in-core and ex-core) and recycle; transportation; safeguards; high-level, low-level and mixed waste management and disposal; public policy and program management; decontamination and decommissioning environmental restoration; and excess weapons materials disposition.
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ANS Student Conference 2025
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Latest News
Norway’s Halden reactor takes first step toward decommissioning
The government of Norway has granted the transfer of the Halden research reactor from the Institute for Energy Technology (IFE) to the state agency Norwegian Nuclear Decommissioning (NND). The 25-MWt Halden boiling water reactor operated from 1958 to 2018 and was used in the research of nuclear fuel, reactor internals, plant procedures and monitoring, and human factors.
Jeffery F. Latkowski, Javier Sanz, Jasmina L. Vujic, Michael T. Tobin
Fusion Science and Technology | Volume 30 | Number 3 | December 1996 | Pages 1475-1479
Safety and Environment | doi.org/10.13182/FST96-A11963157
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
The majority of radionuclide generation/depletion codes consider only neutron reactions and assume that charged particles, which may be generated in these reactions, deposit their energy locally without undergoing further nuclear interactions. Neglect of sequential charged-particle (x,n) reactions can lead to a large underestimation in the inventories of radionuclides that make a significant impact upon various radiological indices.1 We have adopted the PCROSS code for use with the ACAB activation code to enable calculation of the effects of (x,n) reactions upon radionuclide inventories and inventory-related indices.2,3 The present work builds upon our previous work and the work completed by R. A. Forrest for magnetic fusion energy devices.4,5 Using this capability we have performed activation calculations for Flibe (2LiF + BeF2) coolant in the HYLIFE-II inertial fusion energy (IFE) power plant design. For pure Flibe coolant, we find that (x,n) reactions dominate the residual contact dose rate at times of interest for maintenance and decommissioning. For impure Flibe, however, radionuclides produced directly in neutron reactions dominate the contact dose rate, and (x,n) reactions do not make a significant contribution. Our results demonstrate the potential importance of (x,n) reactions and that the relative importance of (x,n) reactions varies strongly with the composition of the material considered. Future activation studies should include (x,n) reactions in all calculations until a method for screening their importance in a particular situation has been established.
