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Conference Spotlight
Nuclear Energy Conference & Expo (NECX)
September 8–11, 2025
Atlanta, GA|Atlanta Marriott Marquis
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
Inkjet droplets of radioactive material enable quick, precise testing at NIST
Researchers at the National Institute of Standards and Technology have developed a technique called cryogenic decay energy spectrometry capable of detecting single radioactive decay events from tiny material samples and simultaneously identifying the atoms involved. In time, the technology could replace characterization tasks that have taken months and could support rapid, accurate radiopharmaceutical development and used nuclear fuel recycling, according to an article published on July 8 by NIST.
B. J. Wrona, J. T. A. Roberts, T. M. Galvin, G. T. Higgins
Nuclear Technology | Volume 32 | Number 3 | March 1977 | Pages 276-289
Technical Paper | Fuel | doi.org/10.13182/NT77-A31751
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
A direct-electrical-heating apparatus was utilized to perform fundamental experiments on short, unirradiated, unclad UO2 pellet stacks to investigate the effect of varying the energy-deposition rate and energy level on the mechanical response of the fuel to transient heating. Results show that as the rate of energy input to the UO2 pellet stacks increases, (a) the energy failure threshold decreases and (b) the areal melt fraction at failure decreases. Two significantly different regimes of fuel-motion behavior were observed above and below a threshold designated as the threshold of gross fuel motion. Above the threshold, this motion occurs by molten fuel release. Below the threshold, fuel deforms plastically by a creep mechanism.
