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Division Spotlight
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
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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Four million nuclear jobs by 2050: Who will do them?
Industry leaders from around the globe met this month to discuss the talent development that will be necessary for the long-term success of the nuclear industry.
The International Conference on Nuclear Knowledge Management and Human Resources Development, hosted by the International Atomic Energy Agency, was held in Vienna earlier this month. Discussed there was the agency’s forecast for nuclear capacity to more than double—or hopefully triple—by 2050 and the requirement of more than four million professionals to support the industry.
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%.