ANS is committed to advancing, fostering, and promoting the development and application of nuclear sciences and technologies to benefit society.
Explore the many uses for nuclear science and its impact on energy, the environment, healthcare, food, and more.
Division Spotlight
Human Factors, Instrumentation & Controls
Improving task performance, system reliability, system and personnel safety, efficiency, and effectiveness are the division's main objectives. Its major areas of interest include task design, procedures, training, instrument and control layout and placement, stress control, anthropometrics, psychological input, and motivation.
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!
Latest Magazine Issues
Jul 2024
Jan 2024
Latest Journal Issues
Nuclear Science and Engineering
August 2024
Nuclear Technology
Fusion Science and Technology
Latest News
BWXT will scout potential TRISO fuel production sites in Wyoming
BWX Technologies Inc. announced today that its Advanced Technologies subsidiary has signed a cooperation agreement with the state of Wyoming to evaluate locations and requirements for siting a potential new TRISO nuclear fuel fabrication facility in the state.
M. D. Freshley
Nuclear Technology | Volume 15 | Number 2 | August 1972 | Pages 125-176
Technical Paper | Plutonium Utilization in Commercial Power Reactors / Reactor | doi.org/10.13182/NT72-A31143
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
The satisfactory irradiation performance of several types of mixed-oxide fuels suitable for the utilization of plutonium in thermal reactors was demonstrated by a significant number of experiments performed in the Plutonium Recycle Test Reactor (PRTR). Heterogeneously and homogeneously enriched packed-particle and pellet mixed-oxide fuels were irradiated at peak linear heat ratings higher, i.e., >655 W/cm (>20 kW/ft), than those employed in the most advanced commercial reactors to significant burnups, i.e., >18 000 MWd/MTM. Early experience in PRTR provided some of the first data related to the effects of hydrogenous impurities on Zircaloy-clad mixed-oxide fuel performance. The demonstrated solution to the problem was achieved through the development of improved analytical and fuel fabrication techniques. Fuel rod cladding becomes oval shaped during irradiation due to creep collapse with the degree of ovality varying among the different fuel types. The fission gas release fraction for vipac mixed-oxide fuels varies linearly from a value of 0.05 for a volumetric average temperature of 600°C to essentially 1.00 for a volumetric average temperature of 2250°C. Homogenization of the PuO2 particles in mechanically mixed UO2-PuO2 commences at fuel temperatures sufficient to cause sintering and equiaxed grain formation during irradiation. PRTR experience indicates that a fuel-cladding reaction that is stoichiometry dependent occurs in Zircaloy-clad mixed-oxide fuels. The satisfactory defect performance of mixed-oxide fuels was demonstrated by several in-service and intentionally defected experiments although there are indications that defect performance may constitute an operating limit at very high linear heat ratings.