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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.”
Jan Prij
Nuclear Technology | Volume 80 | Number 3 | March 1988 | Pages 462-475
Technical Paper | Radioactive Waste Management | doi.org/10.13182/NT88-A34070
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
In a salt dome with a repository for high-level radioactive and heat-generating waste, thermal stresses develop. These stresses can influence the isolation capability of the salt dome if these stresses can initiate cracks or introduce movements along existing closed flaws. The influence of the thermomechanical properties of the rock salt and the surrounding rocks on the thermal stresses and the surface rise is discussed. This discussion is based on a number of finite element creep analyses of a homogeneous cylindrical salt dome. The parameters, varied in the analyses, are constants in the thermomechanical constitutive behavior of salt and rocks, and furthermore the thermal loading has been varied. It is shown that variations in the creep properties, which result in differences in creep strain rate of a factor of 100, have only a very limited influence on the thermal stresses and the surface rise. Of more importance is the elastic stiffness of the materials. In all creep analyses the thermal stresses in the salt are compressive and the shear stresses remain below 2 MPa. The results are evaluated using an analytical treatment. Based on this evaluation, it is shown that the observed trends in the numerical results have a more general character and are not strictly limited to the geometry chosen. It is concluded that the thermal stresses in the salt formation are not strongly dependent on the creep properties of the rock salt.