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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 Annual Conference
June 16–19, 2024
Las Vegas, NV|Mandalay Bay Resort and Casino
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
Commercial nuclear innovation "new space" age
In early 2006, a start-up company launched a small rocket from a tiny island in the Pacific. It exploded, showering the island with debris. A year later, a second launch attempt sent a rocket to space but failed to make orbit, burning up in the atmosphere. Another year brought a third attempt—and a third failure. The following month, in September 2008, the company used the last of its funds to launch a fourth rocket. It reached orbit, making history as the first privately funded liquid-fueled rocket to do so.
Dawn E. Janney, Steven L. Hayes, Cynthia A. Adkins
Nuclear Technology | Volume 206 | Number 1 | January 2020 | Pages 1-22
Critical Review | doi.org/10.1080/00295450.2019.1623617
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
Although U-Pu-Zr alloys have been investigated for more than 60 years, relatively little experimental information is available, and many of the original values are in government reports that appeared more than 40 years ago. Information about the technologically important alloy U-20Pu-10Zr (weight percent) is even more limited. Since U-Pu-Zr alloys are difficult materials to study experimentally, it is therefore important to understand what results have already been obtained, how reliable they are, and where they were reported.
This critical review provides a summary and critical assessment of the available experimental measurements of thermal and mechanical properties of U-Pu-Zr alloys. Knowledge of these properties is crucial for understanding and modeling fuel constituent redistribution, fuel swelling and creep, fission gas release under normal reactor operations, and melting or formation of liquid phases under reactor transient scenarios.
This critical review builds on a previous review that assessed experimental data about phases and phase diagrams in U-Pu-Zr alloys. Both reviews are intended as resources for fuel designers and modelers and as guides for prioritizing future experimental work.