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Division Spotlight
Radiation Protection & Shielding
The Radiation Protection and Shielding Division is developing and promoting radiation protection and shielding aspects of nuclear science and technology — including interaction of nuclear radiation with materials and biological systems, instruments and techniques for the measurement of nuclear radiation fields, and radiation shield design and evaluation.
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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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.
Michael P. Manahan
Nuclear Technology | Volume 85 | Number 3 | June 1989 | Pages 324-333
Technical Paper | Material | doi.org/10.13182/NT89-A34254
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
Small flakes that consist primarily of magnetite have been discovered on the secondary side of the steam generator of the Three Mile Island Unit 1 plant. These iron oxide flakes are believed to cause significant increases in flow resistance, which in turn causes abnormal increases in steam generator water level. It is necessary to measure the physical properties of the tube scale so that the maximum amount of loose flakes can be generated prior to hydrodynamic cleaning (water slap). It is also important to study the flake properties to shed light on the flake formation and transport mechanisms. Once the physical properties of the tube scale are determined, the effects of hydrodynamic cleaning (water slap) can be optimized by preconditioning the scale. There are several preconditioning options including prewetting, predrying, and thermal cycling of the steam generator tubes. Understanding the physical properties of the scale would also be beneficial in optimizing the water slap technique itself. Elastic modulus, fracture stress, thermal expansion, and swelling of the flakes were measured. With one exception, all of the flakes studied were either one-or two-layered as judged by microstructural variation. The fracture stress of the flake materials tested was in the range of 20.0 to 113.8 MPa (2.9 to 16.5 ksi). There did not appear to be a substantial change in the range of stresses measured at elevated temperatures. There was no evidence of delamination during bend testing. The mean coefficient of linear thermal expansion was a factor of ∼2 larger than that of Fe3O4. The maximum amount of swelling measured was 0.0012%, which is consistent with earlier data on flakes from the Oconee-2 plant.