ANS is committed to advancing, fostering, and promoting the development and application of nuclear sciences and technologies to benefit society.
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Division Spotlight
Young Members Group
The Young Members Group works to encourage and enable all young professional members to be actively involved in the efforts and endeavors of the Society at all levels (Professional Divisions, ANS Governance, Local Sections, etc.) as they transition from the role of a student to the role of a professional. It sponsors non-technical workshops and meetings that provide professional development and networking opportunities for young professionals, collaborates with other Divisions and Groups in developing technical and non-technical content for topical and national meetings, encourages its members to participate in the activities of the Groups and Divisions that are closely related to their professional interests as well as in their local sections, introduces young members to the rules and governance structure of the Society, and nominates young professionals for awards and leadership opportunities available to members.
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.
Donald G. Schweitzer, Cesar A. Sastre
Nuclear Technology | Volume 86 | Number 3 | September 1989 | Pages 305-312
Technical Paper | Radioactive Waste Management | doi.org/10.13182/NT89-A34298
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
At present, only one concept, the Swedish design utilizing a thick-walled copper waste package, has been accepted as being capable of isolating high-level waste for hundreds of thousands of years in a granite-type repository. Theoretical arguments show that after the relatively short times required for salt consolidation selfshielded thin-walled copper waste packages have no significant failure or degradation reactions in anoxic neutral and acid brines. Thermodynamic analyses of reactions after consolidation (constant-volume reactions under lithostatic pressures in the absence of oxygen) show that miniscule amounts of metal reacting with brine can produce very large hydrogen pressures. For copper waste packages, almost no consumption of copper is required to produce the small equilibrium hydrogen pressure needed to prevent reaction. Reaction under these conditions no longer depends on poorly understood corrosion mechanisms, but results from hypothetical mechanisms that allow the equilibrium hydrogen to migrate away from the waste package. Analyses of gamma radiolysis and diffusion processes show that in an array of thousands of waste packages removal of hydrogen from the outer packages should be negligible for a properly selected salt repository.