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Decommissioning & Environmental Sciences
The mission of the Decommissioning and Environmental Sciences (DES) Division is to promote the development and use of those skills and technologies associated with the use of nuclear energy and the optimal management and stewardship of the environment, sustainable development, decommissioning, remediation, reutilization, and long-term surveillance and maintenance of nuclear-related installations, and sites. The target audience for this effort is the membership of the Division, the Society, and the public at large.
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International Conference on Mathematics and Computational Methods Applied to Nuclear Science and Engineering (M&C 2025)
April 27–30, 2025
Denver, CO|The Westin Denver Downtown
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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
TerraPower begins U.K. regulatory approval process
Seattle-based TerraPower signaled its interest this week in building its Natrium small modular reactor in the United Kingdom, the company announced.
TerraPower sent a letter to the U.K.’s Department for Energy Security and Net Zero, formally establishing its intention to enter the U.K. generic design assessment (GDA) process. This is TerraPower’s first step in deployment of its Natrium technology—a 345-MW sodium fast reactor coupled with a molten salt energy storage unit—on the international stage.
L. A. El-Guebaly, H. Y. Khater
Fusion Science and Technology | Volume 30 | Number 3 | December 1996 | Pages 1589-1593
Fusion Power Plants and Economics | doi.org/10.13182/FST96-A11963178
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
Recent interest in the low aspect ratio (LAR) concept has led the U.S. ARIES team to examine the credibility of this advanced concept as a future source of fusion energy. The compactness of the LAR machine imposes severe constraints on the Cu center post (CP) which thus plays an important role in the design. In view of the fact that the machine operates for 40 y with a relatively high neutron wall loading of 4 MW/m2, the CP will be operating in a severe radiation environment for an extended period of time. The analysis indicated that the lifetime of the CP is limited by the Class C low level waste disposal requirements. Identification of potential radioactive waste problems for the Cu conductor has resulted in either limiting the lifetime of the unshielded CP to 0.12 FPY (corresponding to a fluence of 0.3 MWy/m2) or shielding the CP with 20-30 cm of shield. Since it is not feasible to replace hundreds of tonnes of Cu every 2 months, the CP should be shielded to prolong the lifetime to 4 years or more, reduce the cumulative radwaste and replacement cost, increase the system availability, and alleviate most of the CP radiation damage problems. We have assessed the effects of neutron fluence on conductor resistivity, swelling, and atomic displacement. Even though the radiation-induced swelling and changes to Cu resistivity due to transmutations are small at 0.3 MWy/m2, there is serious concern about the degradation of properties as all Cu alloys experience hardening and loss of ductility under neutron irradiation.
