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Division Spotlight
Operations & Power
Members focus on the dissemination of knowledge and information in the area of power reactors with particular application to the production of electric power and process heat. The division sponsors meetings on the coverage of applied nuclear science and engineering as related to power plants, non-power reactors, and other nuclear facilities. It encourages and assists with the dissemination of knowledge pertinent to the safe and efficient operation of nuclear facilities through professional staff development, information exchange, and supporting the generation of viable solutions to current issues.
Meeting Spotlight
ANS Student Conference 2025
April 3–5, 2025
Albuquerque, NM|The University of New Mexico
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
First astatine-labeled compound shipped in the U.S.
The Department of Energy’s National Isotope Development Center (NIDC) on March 31 announced the successful long-distance shipment in the United States of a biologically active compound labeled with the medical radioisotope astatine-211 (At-211). Because previous shipments have included only the “bare” isotope, the NIDC has described the development as “unleashing medical innovation.”
Tilmann Rothfuchs, Johannes Droste, Hans-Karl Feddersen, Stefan Heusermann, Jörn U. Schneefuss, Alexandra Pudewills
Nuclear Technology | Volume 121 | Number 2 | February 1998 | Pages 189-198
Technical Paper | German Direct Disposal Project | doi.org/10.13182/NT98-A2831
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
The thermal simulation of drift storage (TSS) full-scale test is being performed in the Asse salt mine in Germany to study the thermomechanical effects of the direct disposal of spent-fuel elements in a nuclear salt repository. The test field comprises two parallel test drifts, in each of which three dummy casks are deposited. The remaining volume of the drifts is backfilled with crushed salt. The casks are equipped with electrical heaters with a thermal power output of 6.4 kW each. The test has been in operation since September 1990. A design temperature of ~210°C at the surface of the heater casks was reached after 5 months. Because the thermal conductivity of the backfill increases with its compaction, the temperature at the surface of the casks subsequently decreased, reaching ~170°C after 5 yr of heating. The drift closure, which causes increasing compaction of the backfill, was considerably accelerated by heating. However, the initial backfill porosity of 35% decreased more slowly than predicted, to ~27% in the heated area at the end of 1995. The average backfill pressure has currently reached 18% of the initial vertical stress in the test field area, which has been estimated at ~12 MPa. Studies of water and gas releases from the backfill material reveal significant increases of carbon dioxide, methane, and hydrogen concentrations due to heating. In situ measurements will be continued in the coming years to study further thermomechanical reactions of the backfill and the surrounding rock salt to the heat input.