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.
Explore membership for yourself or for your organization.
Conference Spotlight
2025 ANS Winter Conference & Expo
November 8–12, 2025
Washington, DC|Washington Hilton
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
Oct 2025
Jul 2025
Latest Journal Issues
Nuclear Science and Engineering
November 2025
Nuclear Technology
Fusion Science and Technology
Latest News
Ho Nieh, TVA board members, and nuclear fuel recycling bill head to Senate floor
Nieh
Ho Nieh, the Trump administration’s nominee to be a member of the Nuclear Regulatory Commission, and four new board members of the Tennessee Valley Authority were approved in a vote today by the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee and head to the Senate floor for a final vote.
The committee also voted to advance to the Senate floor the Nuclear REFUEL Act of 2025 (S. 2082), which would smooth the regulatory pathway for recycling used nuclear fuel.
President Donald nominated Nieh on July 30 to serve as NRC commissioner for the remainder of a term set to expire June 30, 2029, which was held by former NRC commissioner Chris Hanson, who Trump fired in June.
Charles W. Forsberg
Nuclear Technology | Volume 131 | Number 2 | August 2000 | Pages 252-268
Technical Paper | Radioactive Waste Management and Disposal | doi.org/10.13182/NT00-A3115
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
An alternative approach for disposal of high-level waste (HLW) is proposed. HLW would be separated into two fractions: (a) the high-heat radionuclides (HHRs), e.g., 90Sr and 137Cs, and (b) the low-heat radionuclides (LHRs), which are all the remaining radionuclides. These two categories of waste would be disposed of separately in different sections of the repository or different facilities.The LHRs in the HLW contain the long-lived radionuclides that control the repository performance requirements that in turn necessitate (a) expensive waste packages (WPs) and (b) limiting the repository temperatures to avoid repository performance degradation. To limit repository temperature, the amount of HLW per WP is limited and the WPs are spread over a large area. If the decay-heat-generating HHRs are removed from HLW, the repository design is not controlled by decay heat. The resultant LHR repository size (area, number of WPs, total tunnel length) may be reduced to <20% of the size of a conventional repository. With a waste partitioning and transmutation process that includes removal of the minor actinides (americium and curium) from the LHR wastes, significant further reductions in repository size are possible. The minor actinides are the next largest heat generators in LHR wastes.Separate management of HHRs does require (a) separation of the HHRs from the HLW and (b) a separate HHR disposal facility. The HHRs are disposed of in a separate lower-cost facility made possible by the limited lifetimes (T1/2 ~ 30 yr) of the HHRs. There are potentially significant gains in economics and repository performance for separate management of HHRs and LHRs in some types of fuel cycles.
