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Division Spotlight
Radiation Protection & Shielding
The Radiation Protection and Shielding Division is developing and promoting radiation protection and shielding aspects of nuclear science and technology — including interaction of nuclear radiation with materials and biological systems, instruments and techniques for the measurement of nuclear radiation fields, and radiation shield design and evaluation.
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
Vogtle-3 shuts down for valve issue
One of the new Vogtle units in Georgia was shut down unexpectedly on Monday last week for a valve issue that has since been investigated and repaired. According to multiple local news outlets, Georgia Power reported on July 17 that Unit 3 was back in service.
Southern Company spokesperson Jacob Hawkins confirmed that Vogtle-3 went off line at 9:25 p.m. local time on July 8 “due to lowering water levels in the steam generators caused by a valve issue on one of the three main feedwater pumps.”
Gray S. Chang
Nuclear Technology | Volume 122 | Number 1 | April 1998 | Pages 43-51
Technical Paper | Fuel Cycle and Management | doi.org/10.13182/NT98-A2849
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
The United States and Russia expect to have a surplus of ~150 tonnes of weapons-grade plutonium (WGP) and 1000 tonnes of weapons-grade uranium resulting from drastic reductions in nuclear weapons programs. One of the most favored candidate methods for disposing of the WGP is to blend it with natural or depleted uranium down to 5 to 7 wt% of WGP for light water reactor (LWR) fuel pellet fabrication. However, this approach, with a conversion ratio of 0.6, will produce more plutonium and other actinides in the spent fuel than the nonfertile fuel and the proposed actinide-reduced plutonium fuel (ARPF). This process only transforms the weapons-grade fissile materials to civilian-grade plutonium, which is still a nonproliferation concern, so it does not completely solve the plutonium disposition problem. Disposition of WGP in reactors without fertile material has been proposed by industry and national laboratories. A new ARPF is described that would use WGP mixed with medium-enrichment (20 at.% < 235U < 93 at.%) UO2 and the nonfertile material tungsten to achieve a conversion ratio <0.1. The ARPF can meet the WGP disposal goal while minimizing the plutonium production. Its physics and burnup characteristics are analyzed, and the results are compared with LWR UO2 and mixed-oxide fuel.