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Nuclear Energy Conference & Expo (NECX)
September 8–11, 2025
Atlanta, GA|Atlanta Marriott Marquis
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DOE issues new NEPA rule and procedures—and accelerates DOME reactor testing
Meeting a deadline set in President Trump’s May 23 executive order “Reforming Nuclear Reactor Testing at the Department of Energy,” the DOE on June 30 updated information on its National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) rulemaking and implementation procedures and published on its website an interim final rule that rescinds existing regulations alongside new implementing procedures.
William T. Sha, Alan E. Waltar
Nuclear Science and Engineering | Volume 44 | Number 2 | May 1971 | Pages 135-156
Technical Paper | doi.org/10.13182/NSE71-A19663
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
A two-dimensional (R - Z) integral model for characterizing fast reactor excursions from accident inception through core disassembly is presented. For predisassembly calculations, a Eulerian geometric model is used and multichannel heat-transfer computations are performed. Reactivity feedback due to Doppler broadening, coolant density change and voiding, and fuel movement are taken into account. A Lagrangian coordinate system is used in the disassembly phase, wherein the neutronics balance consists of Doppler broadening and material motion. A unique feature of the model is the ability to accommodate a pointwise Energy-Density-Dependent Equation-of-State according to the local sodium inventory that actually exists at the time of disassembly. By providing a consistent basis for establishing the effective reactivity ramp rate, Doppler coefficient, appropriate Equation-of-State, and temperature distribution at the start of core disassembly, much of the arbitrariness normally associated with large accident analyses can be removed. For most accident analyses, this model predicts a significantly lower energy yield during a superprompt critical nuclear excursion than would be computed by using the conventional modified Bethe-Tait analysis.