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Nuclear Criticality Safety
NCSD provides communication among nuclear criticality safety professionals through the development of standards, the evolution of training methods and materials, the presentation of technical data and procedures, and the creation of specialty publications. In these ways, the division furthers the exchange of technical information on nuclear criticality safety with the ultimate goal of promoting the safe handling of fissionable materials outside reactors.
Meeting Spotlight
Conference on Nuclear Training and Education: A Biennial International Forum (CONTE 2025)
February 3–6, 2025
Amelia Island, FL|Omni Amelia Island Resort
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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Reboot: Nuclear needs a success . . . anywhere
The media have gleefully resurrected the language of a past nuclear renaissance. Beyond the hype and PR, many people in the nuclear community are taking a more measured view of conditions that could lead to new construction: data center demand, the proliferation of new reactor designs and start-ups, and the sudden ascendance of nuclear energy as the power source everyone wants—or wants to talk about.
Once built, large nuclear reactors can provide clean power for at least 80 years—outlasting 10 to 20 presidential administrations. Smaller reactors can provide heat and power outputs tailored to an end user’s needs. With all the new attention, are we any closer to getting past persistent supply chain and workforce issues and building these new plants? And what will the election of Donald Trump to a second term as president mean for nuclear?
As usual, there are more questions than answers, and most come down to money. Several developers are engaging with the Nuclear Regulatory Commission or have already applied for a license, certification, or permit. But designs without paying customers won’t get built. So where are the customers, and what will it take for them to commit?
R. M. Carroll, O. Sisman
Nuclear Technology | Volume 11 | Number 4 | August 1971 | Pages 578-591
Technical Paper | Symposium on Fuel Rod Failure and Its Effect / Fuel | doi.org/10.13182/NT71-A30855
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
The fission gas release from three (U,Pu)O2 fuel specimens was measured during irradiation in a sweep-gas experiment. Two of the specimens were made from sintered powder of the same composition, but one specimen was pellets and the other microspheres. The third specimen was sol-gel microspheres. The specimens all showed a decrease in fission gas release during the initial portion of the irradiation. This, we believed, was caused by irradiation sintering of small internal passages. The pellet specimen suffered an almost explosive breakaway gas release when the specimen temperature was suddenly raised from 1100 to 1450°C. The sintered microspheres were irradiated at temperatures just at the onset of breakaway gas release and a relation between burnup and temperature for breakaway gas release was established. About 10% of the sol-gel microspheres contained large internal voids that were not detectable by pre-irradiation optical inspection. The gas release from those with voids was large enough to obscure the gas release from the remainder of the sol-gel microspheres. In general, the fission gas release from all three specimens was about an order of magnitude higher than that expected for comparable specimens of UO2.
