ANS is committed to advancing, fostering, and promoting the development and application of nuclear sciences and technologies to benefit society.
Explore the many uses for nuclear science and its impact on energy, the environment, healthcare, food, and more.
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
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!
Latest Magazine Issues
Jul 2024
Jan 2024
Latest Journal Issues
Nuclear Science and Engineering
August 2024
Nuclear Technology
Fusion Science and Technology
Latest News
Four million nuclear jobs by 2050: Who will do them?
Industry leaders from around the globe met this month to discuss the talent development that will be necessary for the long-term success of the nuclear industry.
The International Conference on Nuclear Knowledge Management and Human Resources Development, hosted by the International Atomic Energy Agency, was held in Vienna earlier this month. Discussed there was the agency’s forecast for nuclear capacity to more than double—or hopefully triple—by 2050 and the requirement of more than four million professionals to support the industry.
Marcus H. Voth, Warren F. Witzig
Nuclear Technology | Volume 78 | Number 3 | September 1987 | Pages 312-319
Nuclear Power Plant Kalkar (SNR-300) | Radioactive Waste Management | doi.org/10.13182/NT87-A15997
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
A methodology is developed and demonstrated to determine a numerical figure of merit (FOM) by which alternative low-level radioactive waste (LLRW) disposal sites and disposal technologies can be evaluated. The FOM is an arbitrarily selected nominal value, representative of the societal value of products associated with the LLRW, modified by the positive and negative impacts of waste disposal. Impacts considered include radiological health effects, transportation accidents, disposal and transportation economics, and user-specified socioeconomic factors. All impacts are converted to an economic basis via a user-specified value of life to allow a common basis of comparison. A demonstration of the methodology evaluates the 1984 Pennsylvania LLR W source term in 24 cases, 2 general locations, 3 soil types, and 4 disposal technologies (Part 61 trench, above-ground vault, below-ground vault, and grouted trench or engineered container). Costs derived for each case in 1984 dollars range from $990 to 1090/m1 ($28 to 31/ft3). Uniform criteria applied to each case assume a linear loss of containment and structural stability for LLRW in a waste cell. Radiological pathways are primarily a function of the site and generally show little or no dependence on the disposal technology. For a $300 000 value of life, the influence of economic factors dominates the FOM. For a $300 million value of life, a spread in FOMs results from transportation and radiological impact pathways. For the 24 cases considered, using a $300 million value of life, the methodology determines the optimum choice to be any of the four disposal technologies at the low permeability site nearest the waste generators (FOMs 939 to 943) and the poorest choice to be the site with unsuitable hydrology farthest from the waste generators (727 to 730). For the optimum site the major FOM impacts are economic (28 nominal incremental FOM units for disposal plus 2 for transportation), transportation fatalities (18 units), and radiation exposure due to transportation (8 units). Such data provide a valuable resource to decision makers charged with making a disposal site and disposal technology selection.
