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Division Spotlight
Nuclear Installations Safety
Devoted specifically to the safety of nuclear installations and the health and safety of the public, this division seeks a better understanding of the role of safety in the design, construction and operation of nuclear installation facilities. The division also promotes engineering and scientific technology advancement associated with the safety of such facilities.
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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Nuclear Science and Engineering
August 2024
Nuclear Technology
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Latest News
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.
Robert E. Woodley, Robert E. Einziger, H. Craig Buchanan
Nuclear Technology | Volume 85 | Number 1 | April 1989 | Pages 74-88
Technical Paper | Nuclear Fuel | doi.org/10.13182/NT89-A34229
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
A series of pressurized water reactor spent-fuel samples from Turkey Point Unit 3 have been oxidized at temperatures between 140 and 225°C in air atmospheres with dew points between 14.5 and -70°C, using a thermogravimetric analysis system. Tests lasted between 400 and 2100 h. At the conclusion of a test, the atmosphere was sampled to determine the release of fission gas during testing, and the fuel samples were analyzed for microstructural changes. It appears that the mechanisms for oxidation of spent fuel to U3O7 takes place in two steps that occur somewhat simultaneously. Oxygen migrates along the grain boundaries, which are oxidized and enlarged. The grains oxidize by the inward progression of a layer of U4O9 saturated with oxygen. A simplified model of the mechanism, which considers oxygen diffusion through the product layer as the rate-controlling step, yields an activation energy of 113 ± 17 kJ/mol. Moisture, between dew points of —70 to +14.5°C, i.e., water vapor partial pressures varying over four orders of magnitude, had no significant effect on the oxidation rate.