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Division Spotlight
Operations & Power
Members focus on the dissemination of knowledge and information in the area of power reactors with particular application to the production of electric power and process heat. The division sponsors meetings on the coverage of applied nuclear science and engineering as related to power plants, non-power reactors, and other nuclear facilities. It encourages and assists with the dissemination of knowledge pertinent to the safe and efficient operation of nuclear facilities through professional staff development, information exchange, and supporting the generation of viable solutions to current issues.
Meeting Spotlight
ANS Student Conference 2025
April 3–5, 2025
Albuquerque, NM|The University of New Mexico
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
First astatine-labeled compound shipped in the U.S.
The Department of Energy’s National Isotope Development Center (NIDC) on March 31 announced the successful long-distance shipment in the United States of a biologically active compound labeled with the medical radioisotope astatine-211 (At-211). Because previous shipments have included only the “bare” isotope, the NIDC has described the development as “unleashing medical innovation.”
Alois Bleier, Karl Heinz Neeb, Eike Gelfort, Joachim Mischke
Nuclear Technology | Volume 74 | Number 2 | August 1986 | Pages 152-163
Technical Paper | Fission Reactor | doi.org/10.13182/NT86-A33800
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
Tritium inventories and tritium distribution have been determined in boron glass absorber rods discharged from a pressurized water reactor first-cycle core and in spent boron carbide (B4C) control rods from a boiling water reactor. The total tritium inventory in the boron glass absorber rods from the Stade nuclear reactor amounts to ∼8.0×1010 Bq (2.2 Ci) per rod. Of this, 99.6% was fixed in the boron glass itself and 0.4% in the Al2O3 pellets. The 4×10−3% fractions in the tube cladding and support pipe and the 1×10−1% fraction in the fill gas accounted for an insignificant part of the total tritium inventory of the rod. This experimentally determined tritium inventory was a factor of 5 larger than that suggested by the calculated estimate. The discrepancy between analyzed and calculated values can be explained by tritium formation from lithium impurities in the boron glass, where a 30-ppm lithium content would be adequate for this tritium inventory to be generated by the reaction 6Li(n, α)3H. Evaluation of the B4C control rods from the Lin-gen nuclear reactor after 3 yr of operation gave a 3.2×1010 Bq (0.85-Ci) tritium inventory per B4C rod, while the total tritium inventory for a control rod assembly containing 60 B4C rods was ∼1.9×1012 Bq (50 Ci). The tritium generated was essentially bound 100% in the B4C, since the hulls contained only 6×10−3% and the fill gas only 2×10−4%.