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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
Utility Working Conference and Vendor Technology Expo (UWC 2024)
August 4–7, 2024
Marco Island, FL|JW Marriott Marco Island
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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Jul 2024
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Nuclear Science and Engineering
August 2024
Nuclear Technology
Fusion Science and Technology
Latest News
ARPA-E announces $40 million to develop transmutation technologies for UNF
The Department of Energy’s Advanced Research Projects Agency–Energy (ARPA-E) announced $40 million in funding to develop cutting-edge technologies to enable the transmutation of used nuclear fuel into less-radioactive substances. According to ARPA-E, the new initiative addresses one of the agency’s core goals as outlined by Congress: to provide transformative solutions to improve the management, cleanup, and disposal of radioactive waste and spent nuclear fuel.
Junhao Zhang, Weiwei Chen, Bingyu Ni, Jing Zheng, Kaixin Zhao, Wanyi Tian, Chao Jiang
Nuclear Science and Engineering | Volume 198 | Number 8 | August 2024 | Pages 1668-1681
Research Article | doi.org/10.1080/00295639.2023.2257508
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
During the decommissioning process of nuclear facilities, workers are exposed to radiation and face the risk of exceeding safe dose limits. Ensuring the safety of personnel requires not only enhancing radiation protection measures but also optimizing work paths to minimize exposure time and avoid high-radiation areas. This paper proposes a nested optimization algorithm that combines an ant colony optimization (ACO) with an improved A* algorithm for the decommissioning of a nonradiation source. The algorithm aims to minimize the total radiation dose and transforms the original path optimization problem into an equivalent traveling salesperson problem. The improved A* algorithm is employed in the inner layer to calculate the path with the lowest radiation dose for any given sales order. The ACO operates in the outer layer to determine a set of optimal working paths that traverse all target points. The provided solution example demonstrates that the proposed path optimization algorithm effectively integrates the radiation field and obstacles. It successfully identifies a sequence for dismantling with the lowest dose and corresponding optimal work path while ensuring the completion of the dismantling task. These findings are expected to offer valuable insights for optimizing personnel work paths during the subsequent decommissioning process of nuclear facilities.