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Division Spotlight
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.
Meeting Spotlight
2024 ANS Winter Conference and Expo
November 17–21, 2024
Orlando, FL|Renaissance Orlando at SeaWorld
Standards Program
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
New laws offer nuclear industry incentives for existing power plant uprates
This year, the U.S. nuclear industry received a much-needed economic boost that could help preserve operating nuclear power plants and incentivize upgrades that extend their lifespan and power output.
Signed into law in 2022, the Inflation Reduction Act offers production tax credits (PTCs) for existing nuclear power plants and either PTCs or investment tax credits (ITCs) for new carbon-free generation. These credits could make power uprates—increasing the maximum power level at which a commercial plant may operate—a much more appealing option for utilities.
David A. Pickett, William L. Dam
Nuclear Science and Engineering | Volume 151 | Number 1 | September 2005 | Pages 114-120
Technical Paper | doi.org/10.13182/NSE05-A2533
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) is independently evaluating technical issues such as colloid-facilitated radionuclide transport in preparation for reviewing an anticipated license application from the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) for a potential high-level nuclear waste repository at Yucca Mountain, Nevada. For performance assessment computer simulations of evolving conditions many years into the future, the influence of colloids in enhancing radionuclide transport is difficult to estimate and highly uncertain. NRC staff is conducting a multipronged approach to assessing whether or not these uncertainties are sufficiently represented by performance assessment models. Preliminary simplified calculations providing a conservative estimate of calculated dose from colloidal Pu suggest that an effect on dose is plausible. A more sophisticated effort involves analytical modeling of colloidal Pu transport that uses laboratory and field data to represent more accurately processes such as kinetic controls on sorption (attachment) and desorption (detachment) of radionuclides at colloid surfaces. This modeling effort shows that slow desorption of radionuclides from colloids is a factor that could enhance radionuclide migration. Finally, an abstraction of colloidal transport is being implemented in the NRC total-system performance assessment model in order to integrate potential colloidal effects at the system level. This implementation is flexible enough that a variety of sensitivity studies can be conducted that will aid identification of the model parameters most significant to transport.