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On moving fast and breaking things
Craig Piercycpiercy@ans.org
So much of what is happening in federal nuclear policy these days seems driven by a common approach popularized in the technology sector. Silicon Valley calls it “move fast and break things,” a phrase originally associated with Facebook’s early culture under Mark Zuckerberg. The idea emerged in the early 2000s as software companies discovered that rapid iteration, frequent experimentation, and a willingness to tolerate failure could dramatically accelerate innovation. This philosophy helped drive the growth of the social media, smartphones, cloud computing, and digital platforms that now underpin modern economic and social life.
Today, that mindset is also influencing federal nuclear policy. The Trump administration views accelerated nuclear deployment as part of a broader competition with China for technological and AI leadership. In that context, it seems willing to accept greater operational risk in pursuit of strategic advantage and long-term economic and security objectives.
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.
