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Division Spotlight
Education, Training & Workforce Development
The Education, Training & Workforce Development Division provides communication among the academic, industrial, and governmental communities through the exchange of views and information on matters related to education, training and workforce development in nuclear and radiological science, engineering, and technology. Industry leaders, education and training professionals, and interested students work together through Society-sponsored meetings and publications, to enrich their professional development, to educate the general public, and to advance nuclear and radiological science and engineering.
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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August 2024
Nuclear Technology
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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.”
Nadia Messaoudi, Jean Tommasi
Nuclear Technology | Volume 137 | Number 2 | February 2002 | Pages 84-96
Technical Paper | Fission Reactors | doi.org/10.13182/NT02-A3259
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
This study proposes a new fast reactor core concept dedicated to plutonium and minor actinide burning by transmutation. This core has a large power level of ~1500 MW(electric) favoring the economic aspect. To promote plutonium and minor actinide burning as much as possible, total suppression of 238U, which produces 239Pu by conversion, and large quantities of minor actinides in the core are desirable. Therefore, the 238U-free fuel is homogeneously mixed with a considerable quantity of minor actinides.From the safety point of view, both the Doppler effect and the coolant (sodium) void reactivity become less favorable in a 238U-free core. To preserve these two important safety parameters on an acceptable level, a hydrogenated moderator separated from the fuel and nuclides, such as W or 99Tc, is added to the core in the place of 238U. Tungsten and 99Tc have strong capture resonances at appropriate energies, and 99Tc itself is a long-lived fission product to be transmuted with profit.This core allows the achievement of a consumption rate of ~100 kg/TW(electric)h of transuranic elements, ~70 kg/TW(electric)h for plutonium (due to 238U suppression), and 30 to 35 kg/TW(electric)h for minor actinides. In addition, ~14 kg/TW(electric)h of 99Tc is destroyed when this element is present in the core (the initial loading of 99Tc is >4000 kg in the core).The activity of newly designed subassemblies has also been investigated in comparison to standard fast reactor subassemblies (neutron sources, decay heat, and gamma dose rate). Finally, a transmutation scenario involving pressurized water reactors and minor actinide-burning fast reactors has been studied to estimate the necessary proportion of burner reactors and the achievable radiotoxicity reduction with respect to a reference open cycle.