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Division Spotlight
Fuel Cycle & Waste Management
Devoted to all aspects of the nuclear fuel cycle including waste management, worldwide. Division specific areas of interest and involvement include uranium conversion and enrichment; fuel fabrication, management (in-core and ex-core) and recycle; transportation; safeguards; high-level, low-level and mixed waste management and disposal; public policy and program management; decontamination and decommissioning environmental restoration; and excess weapons materials disposition.
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
BWXT will scout potential TRISO fuel production sites in Wyoming
BWX Technologies Inc. announced today that its Advanced Technologies subsidiary has signed a cooperation agreement with the state of Wyoming to evaluate locations and requirements for siting a potential new TRISO nuclear fuel fabrication facility in the state.
M. Baines, S. J. Board, N. E. Buttery, R. W. Hall
Nuclear Technology | Volume 49 | Number 1 | June 1980 | Pages 27-39
Technical Paper | Nuclear Power Reactor Safety / Reactor | doi.org/10.13182/NT80-A32503
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
The analogy between thermal reactive and chemical reactive flows suggests that all propagating thermal explosions have a detonation-like (i.e., shock) structure. We show, however, that very high pressures and efficiencies need not necessarily be achieved. We consider a number of fragmentation mechanisms that could sustain these explosions, including hydrodynamic fragmentation, for which new results are presented; these results show the mechanism to be effective over a wide range of shock strengths. A vapor detonation model, which allows for thermal disequilibrium in the coolant, is developed. Predictions are in broad agreement with the characteristics of metal-water interactions. It is suggested that similar nonequilibrium effects may limit the efficiency of UO2-water detonations; this is less likely with the U02-sodium system, however, because of the high conductivity of the coolant. It may be difficult to achieve coarse intermixing with UO2-sodium; however, if this does occur, the possibility of a high efficiency interaction remains.