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Division Spotlight
Robotics & Remote Systems
The Mission of the Robotics and Remote Systems Division is to promote the development and application of immersive simulation, robotics, and remote systems for hazardous environments for the purpose of reducing hazardous exposure to individuals, reducing environmental hazards and reducing the cost of performing work.
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
Is waste really waste?
Tim Tinsley
I’ve been reflecting on the recent American Nuclear Society Winter Conference and Expo, where I enjoyed the discussion on recycling used nuclear fuel to recover valuable minerals or products for future applications. I have spent more than 30 years focusing on dissolving and separating nuclear material, so it was refreshing to hear the case for new applications being made. However, I feel that these discussions could go further still.
Radiation is energy, something that our society seems to have an endless need for. A nuclear power station produces a lot of radiation that is mostly discarded. But once fuel has been used, it still produces significant levels of radiation and heat energy. The associated storage, processing, and eventual disposal of this used fuel requires careful management and investment to protect systems and people from the radiation. Should we really disregard—and discard—this energy source, along with all the valuable minerals in the used fuel, when we could instead use it to deliver significant value to society?
Kenji Yokoyama, Makoto Ishikawa
Nuclear Science and Engineering | Volume 178 | Number 3 | November 2014 | Pages 350-362
Technical Paper | doi.org/10.13182/NSE14-11
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
To provide a reactor physics benchmark for burnup reactivity coefficients, experimental data, showing the relationship between excess reactivity and accumulated thermal power acquired during the experimental fast reactor JOYO MK-I duty power operation in the late 1970s, have been evaluated and analyzed. To improve the prediction accuracy of nuclear characteristics through the use of integral experimental data, nominal values and uncertainties, including correlations of the experimental data, were evaluated. All possible uncertainty factors were evaluated and quantified by utilizing knowledge obtained after the MK-I duty power operation and calculation results based on the latest reactor physics analysis methods. Meanwhile, the present evaluated data have been reviewed and approved by the International Reactor Physics Experiment Evaluation Project, with the expectation that these data will be widely used. In the present paper, the evaluation of nominal values and uncertainties is described with a focus on the measurement technique uncertainty, which is a dominant uncertainty factor of the burnup reactivity coefficient. In addition, new analysis results of the benchmark problem are shown by the use of the latest Japanese evaluated nuclear data JENDL-4.0.