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Aerospace Nuclear Science & Technology
Organized to promote the advancement of knowledge in the use of nuclear science and technologies in the aerospace application. Specialized nuclear-based technologies and applications are needed to advance the state-of-the-art in aerospace design, engineering and operations to explore planetary bodies in our solar system and beyond, plus enhance the safety of air travel, especially high speed air travel. Areas of interest will include but are not limited to the creation of nuclear-based power and propulsion systems, multifunctional materials to protect humans and electronic components from atmospheric, space, and nuclear power system radiation, human factor strategies for the safety and reliable operation of nuclear power and propulsion plants by non-specialized personnel and more.
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.
V. K. Manchanda, P. B. Ruikar, S. Sriram, M. S. Nagar, P. N. Pathak, K. K. Gupta, R. K. Singh, R. R. Chitnis, P. S. Dhami, A. Ramanujam
Nuclear Technology | Volume 134 | Number 3 | June 2001 | Pages 231-240
Technical Paper | Reprocessing | doi.org/10.13182/NT01-A3198
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
While the tri-n-butyl phosphate (TBP)-based PUREX process has been the workhorse of the nuclear fuel reprocessing industry for the last four and a half decades, a few drawbacks associated with the use of TBP have caused concern to the separation scientists and technologists. These shortcomings may pose a serious challenge particularly during the reprocessing of (a) short cooled thermal reactor fuels, (b) fast reactor fuels with the larger Pu content and significantly higher burn up, and (c) while treating various waste streams for their disposal to the environment. The N,N-dialkyl aliphatic amides have received particular attention as alternate potential extractants for the reprocessing of spent nuclear fuels in view of (a) the innocuous nature of their degradation products, namely, carboxylic acids/amines and (b) the possibility to incinerate the used solvent leading to reduced volume of secondary waste. The physical and chemical properties of these amides are influenced strongly by the nature of alkyl groups. The extractant N,N-dihexyl octanamide (DHOA) was found to be a promising candidate among a large number of extractants studied. Laboratory batch studies as well as mixer settler studies were performed under process conditions with DHOA and compared with those of TBP. DHOA was found to extract Pu(IV) more efficiently than TBP, both at trace-level concentration as well as under uranium loading conditions. In addition, the extraction behavior of Am(III) and Zr(IV) was studied at varying nitric acid concentrations (1 to 6 M). Extraction behavior of uranium at macroconcentrations (9.9 to 157.7 g/l) was carried out at different temperatures, and it was observed that DU decreased with the increase in U loading as well as with the increase of temperature (in the range 25 to 45°C) and that the two-phase reaction was exothermic in nature. Mixer settler studies on U(VI) revealed that DHOA is similar to TBP during the extraction cycle but better than TBP during the stripping cycle.