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NRC proposed rule for licensing reactors authorized by DOE, DOD
Nuclear reactor designs approved by the Department of Energy or Department of Defense could get streamlined pathways through the Nuclear Regulatory Commission’s commercial licensing process should applicants wish to push the technology into the civilian sector.
A proposed rule introduced April 2 by the NRC would “improve NRC licensing review efficiency, where applicable, by explicitly establishing by regulation an additional means for reactor applicants to demonstrate the safety functions of their reactor designs, and thus, would contribute to the safe and secure use and deployment of civilian nuclear energy technologies.”
G. W. Keilholtz, R. E. Moore, M. F. Osborne
Nuclear Technology | Volume 4 | Number 5 | May 1968 | Pages 330-336
Technical Paper and Note | doi.org/10.13182/NT68-A26398
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
Solid cylindrical specimens (½- × ½-in.) of the monocarbides of Ti, Zr, Ta, Nb, and W, made by 1) hot pressing, 2) slip casting and sintering, and 3) explosion-pressing and sintering, were irradiated at 300 to 700°C. Fast-neutron (> 1 MeV) exposures ranged from 0.8 to 5.4 × 1021 n/cm2 in a fast-neutron flux profile which ranged from 0.6 to 2.6 × 1014 n/(cm2 sec). The order of decreasing fracture of specimens made by 1) and 2) was Ta, Zr, Nb, Ti, and W. Specimens made by 3) not only fractured at lower neutron doses than those made by 1) and 2), but there was also less difference in gross damage among the five carbides. Tungsten carbide expanded in volume by ∼0.6% and the other carbides by 2 to 3% upon exposure to fast doses of 1 to 2 × 1021 n/cm2. Higher doses produced either a decrease in volume toward the initial volume or no further change. Volume changes represented crystal volume changes since there was no grain boundary separation. Less than 50% of the crystal expansion was accounted for by increases in lattice parameters. The major cause of damage to carbides is postulated to result from point defects produced by fast neutrons. It is suggested that most of the initial volume expansion is caused by the formation of defect agglomerates too large to affect measured values of the lattice parameters. Slow neutrons of the irradiation spectrum may have contributed to premature fracturing of explosion-pressed specimens through absorptions by added Co and Ni binder at the grain boundaries.