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Division Spotlight
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.
Meeting Spotlight
Conference on Nuclear Training and Education: A Biennial International Forum (CONTE 2025)
February 3–6, 2025
Amelia Island, FL|Omni Amelia Island Resort
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
Senate committee hears from energy secretary nominee Chris Wright
Wright
Chris Wright, president-elect Trump’s pick to lead the U.S. Department of Energy, spent hours today fielding questions from members of the U.S. Senate’s committee on Energy and Natural Resources.
During the hearing, Wright—who’s spent most of his career in fossil fuels—made comments in support of nuclear energy and efforts to expand domestic generation in the near future. Asked what actions he would take as energy secretary to improve the development and deployment of SMRs, Wright said: “It’s a big challenge, and I’m new to government, so I can’t list off the five levers I can pull. But (I’ve been in discussions) about how to make it easier to research, to invest, to build things. The DOE has land at some of its facilities that can be helpful in this regard.”
J. C. Helton, J. E. Bean, B. M. Butcher, J. W. Garner,‡ J.D. Schreiber, P. N. Swift, P. Vaughn
Nuclear Science and Engineering | Volume 122 | Number 1 | January 1996 | Pages 1-31
Technical Paper | doi.org/10.13182/NSE96-A28545
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
Uncertainty and sensitivity analysis techniques based on Latin hypercube sampling, partial correlation analysis, stepwise regression analysis, and examination of scatterplots are used in conjunction with the BRAGFLO model to examine two-phase flow (i.e., gas and brine) at the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant, which is being developed by the U.S. Department of Energy as a disposal facility for trans-uranic waste, to provide insights on factors that are potentially important in showing compliance with applicable regulations of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. Specific regulations include “Petitions to Allow Land Disposal of a Waste Prohibited Under Subpart C of Part 268” (40 CFR 268.6), which implements the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act and establishes maximum environmental concentrations for regulated chemicals such as volatile organic compounds (VOCs) and heavy metals, and “Environmental Standards for the Management and Disposal of Spent Nuclear Fuel, High-Level and Transuranic Radioactive Wastes” (40 CFR 191, Subpart B), which places a probabilistic limit on allowable radioactive releases from a disposal facility over a 10 000-yr time period. The primary topics investigated are (a) gas production due to corrosion of steel, (b) gas production due to microbial degradation of cellulosics, and (c) gas migration into anhydrite marker beds in the Salado Formation, which is the host unit into which the waste will be emplaced. Gas production and movement is of particular importance in establishing compliance with 40 CFR 268.6 because of its influence on the movement of VOCs. Important variables identified in the analysis include (a) initial brine saturation of the waste, (b) stoichiometric terms for corrosion of steel and microbial degradation of cellulosics, and (c) gas barrier pressure in the anhydrite marker beds.