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Division Spotlight
Fusion Energy
This division promotes the development and timely introduction of fusion energy as a sustainable energy source with favorable economic, environmental, and safety attributes. The division cooperates with other organizations on common issues of multidisciplinary fusion science and technology, conducts professional meetings, and disseminates technical information in support of these goals. Members focus on the assessment and resolution of critical developmental issues for practical fusion energy applications.
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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Latest News
NRC engineers share their expertise at the University of Puerto Rico
Robert Roche-Rivera and Marcos Rolón-Acevedo are licensed professional engineers who work at the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission. They are also alumni of the University of Puerto Rico–Mayagüez (UPRM) and have been sharing their knowledge and experience with students at their alma mater since last year, serving as adjunct professors in the university’s Department of Mechanical Engineering. During the 2023–2024 school year, they each taught two courses: Fundamentals of Nuclear Science and Engineering, and Nuclear Power Plant Engineering.
Aniruddha Kumar, R. B. Bhatt, Mohd. Afzal, J. P. Panakkal, Dhruba J. Biswas, J. Padma Nilaya, A. K. Das
Nuclear Technology | Volume 182 | Number 2 | May 2013 | Pages 242-247
Regular Technical Paper | Special Issue on the Symposium on Radiation Effects in Ceramic Oxide and Novel LWR Fuels / Decontamination/Decommissioning | doi.org/10.13182/NT13-A16434
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
Decontamination of fuel pins is an important process step in nuclear fuel fabrication. Decontamination assumes greater significance with respect to fuels containing plutonium, owing to both plutonium's high radiotoxicity arising from its long biological half-life and its relatively short radioactive half-life. The advantages of using a laser to decontaminate such radioactive surfaces over conventional cleaning techniques are well recognized. This paper describes detailed process optimization and field implementation of laser-assisted decontamination of fuel pins of the Prototype Fast Breeder Reactor (PFBR). A short-pulsed Nd-YAG laser has been effectively used to decontaminate the fuel pins by exposing their outer surface to laser radiation of an appropriate fluence. The laser parameters were controlled to achieve the required cleaning without causing any clad surface damage. Achievement of such was confirmed by evaluating the laser-cleaned surface using scanning electron microscopy, chemical composition studies by electron probe microanalysis, and Vicker's microhardness test.