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Nuclear Criticality Safety
NCSD provides communication among nuclear criticality safety professionals through the development of standards, the evolution of training methods and materials, the presentation of technical data and procedures, and the creation of specialty publications. In these ways, the division furthers the exchange of technical information on nuclear criticality safety with the ultimate goal of promoting the safe handling of fissionable materials outside reactors.
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Conference on Nuclear Training and Education: A Biennial International Forum (CONTE 2025)
February 3–6, 2025
Amelia Island, FL|Omni Amelia Island Resort
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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Article considers incorporation of AI into nuclear power plant operations
The potential application of artificial intelligence to the operation of nuclear power plants is explored in an article published in late December in the Washington Examiner. The article, written by energy and environment reporter Callie Patteson, presents the views of a number of experts, including Yavuz Arik, a strategic energy consultant.
Patrick Michaille, Jean-Claude Moroni, Irma Lambert
Nuclear Technology | Volume 93 | Number 2 | February 1991 | Pages 147-157
Technical Paper | Fission Reactor | doi.org/10.13182/NT91-A34501
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
Dcontamination of stainless steel liquid-metal fast breeder reactor components for reuse in France began with the decontamination of Rapsodie components. At that time, dilute phosphoric acid was used. To cope with additional irradiated components after Phénix came into operation, an extensive study was performed, which led to the selection of a procedure involving two baths. The first bath, alkaline permanganate (AP), is applied for 3 h; the second bath, sulfo-phosphoric acid (SP), is applied for 6 h, both at 60° C. Up to three cycles are repeated until the residual dose rate is sufficiently low. Eight intermediate heat exchangers (IHXs) and two primary pumps from Phénix were decontaminated using this method. Because SP can pickle only a limited depth (∼3 µm), due to the passivation effect of phosphoric acid, and because of the waste treatment problems associated with phosphates, new solutions were explored. One possibility involves improvement of the AP-SP procedure: In the SPm procedure, the AP bath is omitted and the phosphoric concentration is reduced by a factor of 4. A second approach is the use of a new formula, called “SECA, ” a mixture of maleic and citric acid used in reducing conditions (imposed by hydrazine). Since the Phénix and Superphénix waste treatment facilities are not designed to reprocess maleic-citric acid, only the SPm procedure has been used on reactor components. A low-contaminated IHX from Rapsodie served as a test benchmark, not only for the decontamination procedure, but also for the requalification criteria, before the SPm procedure was applied to a highly contaminated IHX from Phénix. Recent results are presented.