ANS is committed to advancing, fostering, and promoting the development and application of nuclear sciences and technologies to benefit society.
Explore the many uses for nuclear science and its impact on energy, the environment, healthcare, food, and more.
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!
Latest Magazine Issues
Jul 2024
Jan 2024
Latest Journal Issues
Nuclear Science and Engineering
August 2024
Nuclear Technology
Fusion Science and Technology
Latest News
Oklo completes end-to-end demonstration of advanced fuel recycling
Oklo Inc. has announced that it has completed the first end-to-end demonstration of its advanced fuel recycling process as part of an ongoing $5 million project in collaboration with Argonne and Idaho National Laboratories. Oklo’s goal: scaling up its fuel recycling capabilities to deploy a commercial-scale recycling facility that would increase advanced reactor fuel supplies and enhance fuel cost effectiveness for its planned sodium fast reactors.
Takaaki Mochida, Mitsunari Nakamura, Jun-Ichi Yamashita, Hiromi Maruyama, Sakae Muto, Shigeru Kasai
Nuclear Technology | Volume 114 | Number 3 | June 1996 | Pages 308-317
Technical Paper | Nuclear Fuel Cycle | doi.org/10.13182/NT96-A35235
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
The multienrichment boiling water reactor (BWR) initial core design was first applied to the Kashiwazaki-Kariwa Nuclear Power Station Unit 5 [1100-MW(electric) BWR] in Japan. This core is designed to improve fuel discharge exposure, capacity factors, and operability. The design study shows that three types of fuel bundles with different enrichments are suitable to achieve the design targets. Three bundle enrichments are selected to simulate each of the following: fresh bundles, once-burned bundles, and twice-burned bundles in the reload core. Although the heterogeneity of multienrichment design increases the complexity of the design analysis, both the initial criticality test and the moderator temperature coefficient measurement showed good agreement with our prediction. Subsequent full-power operation verified the expected core performance. Average discharge exposure for the total initial fuel is ∼10% larger than that for the conventional single-enrichment BWR initial fuel with reinsertion of discharged fuel at the end of the first cycle. These experiences verified the effectiveness of a multienrichment initial core for the improvement of fuel utilization, capacity factors, and operability