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Division Spotlight
Education, Training & Workforce Development
The Education, Training & Workforce Development Division provides communication among the academic, industrial, and governmental communities through the exchange of views and information on matters related to education, training and workforce development in nuclear and radiological science, engineering, and technology. Industry leaders, education and training professionals, and interested students work together through Society-sponsored meetings and publications, to enrich their professional development, to educate the general public, and to advance nuclear and radiological science and engineering.
Meeting Spotlight
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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Latest News
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.
Kenneth M. Wasywich, William H. Hocking, David W. Shoesmith, Peter Taylor
Nuclear Technology | Volume 104 | Number 3 | December 1993 | Pages 309-329
Technical Paper | Special Issue on Waste Management / Radioactive Waste Management | doi.org/10.13182/NT93-A34893
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
In the Canadian research and development program on fuel storage, used CANDU (Canada deuterium uranium) UO2fuel bundles are being exposed in experimental vessels to both dry and moisture-saturated air environments at 150°C. At intervals of several years, individual fuel elements, which were deliberately defected before storage, are recovered for destructive examination to determine the extent of UO2 oxidation that has occurred. The most recent examinations took place after 99.5 and 69 months of storage under dry and moist conditions, respectively. The progress of oxidation in the two different storage environments is compared, and the results of fuel examination by optical microscopy, scanning electron microscopy, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), and X-ray powder diffraction (XRD) are described. In dry air, oxidation proceeds mainly on exposed UO2 surfaces near the cladding defect and penetrates the fuel along grain boundaries adjoining cracks and the fuel-sheath gap, which provide primary pathways for access of oxygen to the fuel. An oxidized rind, resembling α-U3O7, is visible around UO2 grain cores near the oxide front. In moist air, oxidation is more generally distributed throughout the length of the fuel element. It proceeds along grain boundaries and is most extensive in regions of the fuel expected to have the highest porosity or grain-boundary inventory of fission products. This oxidized layer is too thin to observe by optical microscopy or identify by XRD, but XPS results indicate a higher degree of oxidation at the exposed grain boundaries (U6+/U4+ often »1.0) than in fuel specimens oxidized in dry air (U6+/U4+ usually <1.0). Interpretation of the results is complicated by the different O2/UO2 ratios in the two types of storage vessel and the fact that oxygen was completely consumed during at least some of the storage intervals. Nonetheless, it is clear that the presence of moisture promotes a more generally distributed oxidation of UO2 grain boundaries. The probable involvement of radiolytic processes in the moist oxidation reaction and possible reasons for the sensitization of certain regions of the fuel to moist oxidation are discussed. In addition to oxidation of UO2, the XPS spectra provide evidence for the radiation-induced incorporation of oxygen and nitrogen into adventitious carbon (adsorbed hydrocarbons) on the UO2 surfaces.
