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2026 Annual Conference
May 31–June 3, 2026
Denver, CO|Sheraton Denver
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What’s the most difficult question you’ve been asked as a maintenance instructor?
Blye Widmar
"Where are the prints?!"
This was the final question in an onslaught of verbal feedback, comments, and critiques I received from my students back in 2019. I had two years of instructor experience and was teaching a class that had been meticulously rehearsed in preparation for an accreditation visit. I knew the training material well and transferred that knowledge effectively enough for all the students to pass the class. As we wrapped up, I asked the students how they felt about my first big system-level class, and they did not hold back.
“Why was the exam from memory when we don’t work from memory in the plant?” “Why didn’t we refer to the vendor documents?” “Why didn’t we practice more on the mock-up?” And so on.
Simcha Stroes-Gascoyne, Lawrence H. Johnson, Dennis M. Sellinger
Nuclear Technology | Volume 77 | Number 3 | June 1987 | Pages 320-330
Technical Paper | Radioactive Waste Management | doi.org/10.13182/NT87-A33972
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
Safety assessment of the used fuel disposal concept requires a study of the integrity of used fuel in contact with groundwater. In this context, the initial release of 137Cs and I29I from used Canada deuterium uranium fuel segments, exposed to water at 25°C, has been studied as a function of fuel irradiation history. Percentages of inventories released after 5 days of leaching are compared to stable xenon fuel-sheath gap inventories. Cesium-137/xenon and 129I/xenon release ratios average ∼0.2 for low linear power rating (LLPR) fuel. For high linear power rating fuel, ratios are considerably larger and may approach 1. For LLPR fuel, the ratios become larger when the leaching time is increased. It is proposed that these differences are related to the microstructure of used fuel. The results indicate that the source term for the instantaneous release of isotopes of cesium and iodine should include all of the fuel-sheath gap inventory. Power history data and calculated gas release data can be used to accurately estimate the contribution of the fuel-sheath gap inventory to the source term for radionuclide release.
