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Division Spotlight
Robotics & Remote Systems
The Mission of the Robotics and Remote Systems Division is to promote the development and application of immersive simulation, robotics, and remote systems for hazardous environments for the purpose of reducing hazardous exposure to individuals, reducing environmental hazards and reducing the cost of performing work.
Meeting Spotlight
International Conference on Mathematics and Computational Methods Applied to Nuclear Science and Engineering (M&C 2025)
April 27–30, 2025
Denver, CO|The Westin Denver Downtown
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
Argonne’s METL gears up to test more sodium fast reactor components
Argonne National Laboratory has successfully swapped out an aging cold trap in the sodium test loop called METL (Mechanisms Engineering Test Loop), the Department of Energy announced April 23. The upgrade is the first of its kind in the United States in more than 30 years, according to the DOE, and will help test components and operations for the sodium-cooled fast reactors being developed now.
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.
