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
December 2025
Nuclear Technology
November 2025
Fusion Science and Technology
Latest News
Illinois legislature lifts ban on nuclear energy, funds clean energy
The Illinois General Assembly passed a clean energy bill on October 30 that would, in part, lift a 30-year moratorium on new nuclear energy in the state and create incentives for more energy storage.
J. M. Cardito, E. V. Somers, J. H. McWhirter
Nuclear Technology | Volume 28 | Number 1 | January 1976 | Pages 119-126
Technical Paper | Fuels for Pulsed Reactor / Reactor Siting | doi.org/10.13182/NT76-A31545
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
The containment capability of mined subterranean caverns for siting nuclear power plants depends on the flow of groundwater through porous media surrounding the cavern. For a simple cylindrical containment cavern, design correlations were developed relating depth of burial to cavern overpressure. Considering 50 psig as the maximum containment overpressure following a postulated loss-of-coolant accident (LOCA), the minimum depth of burial below the groundwater table for a cavern of 50-ft radius is ∼200 ft. These conditions assure no cavern water flow through the rock to the atmosphere and no cavern contaminant seepage into the groundwater following a postulated LOCA.