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Division Spotlight
Human Factors, Instrumentation & Controls
Improving task performance, system reliability, system and personnel safety, efficiency, and effectiveness are the division's main objectives. Its major areas of interest include task design, procedures, training, instrument and control layout and placement, stress control, anthropometrics, psychological input, and motivation.
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
Virginia utility considers SMRs
Dominion Energy Virginia has issued a request for proposals from leading nuclear companies to study the feasibility of putting a small modular reactor at its North Anna nuclear power plant.
While the utility says it is not a commitment to build an SMR at the site, the RFP is “an important first step in evaluating the technology and the North Anna site to support Dominion Energy customers’ future energy needs consistent with the company’s most recent Integrated Resource Plan.”
James L. Buelt, Richard K. Farnsworth
Nuclear Technology | Volume 96 | Number 2 | November 1991 | Pages 178-184
Technical Paper | Radioactive Waste Management | doi.org/10.13182/NT91-A34603
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
In situ vitrification (ISV) converts contaminated soil into a glass and crystalline product by melting it with electrical energy. Pacific Northwest Laboratory, the developer of ISV, is currently conducting research to extend the technology to buried wastes and underground tanks for the U.S. Department of Energy. Since these types of wastes are anticipated to contain high concentrations of metals, new processing techniques are being developed and tested. In addition, the effects of metals on melt shape and on the solubility of heavy metals are being studied and tested. An electrode feeding technique has been developed and tested for processing high concentrations of metals. Instead of predrilling casings for electrode installation into the contaminated soil to be vitrified, electrode feeding allows the electrodes to be inserted as the vitrified soil melts downward. This concept has been successfully tested four times on engineering-scale equipment, which is th the capacity of large-scale equipment. Preliminary information has been collected on the influence of metals on melt shape and on the solubility of heavy metals in the molten soil. Test results indicate that metals could be used to achieve greater depths with ISV. Also, although the presence of metals can cause heavy metals to reduce and alloy with the molten metal pool at the bottom of the vitrified soil, the metallic phase passes all criteria for product durability. Additional and larger scale testing is needed to confirm these conclusions.