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Division Spotlight
Isotopes & Radiation
Members are devoted to applying nuclear science and engineering technologies involving isotopes, radiation applications, and associated equipment in scientific research, development, and industrial processes. Their interests lie primarily in education, industrial uses, biology, medicine, and health physics. Division committees include Analytical Applications of Isotopes and Radiation, Biology and Medicine, Radiation Applications, Radiation Sources and Detection, and Thermal Power Sources.
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.”
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.