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
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!
Latest Magazine Issues
Jul 2024
Jan 2024
Latest Journal Issues
Nuclear Science and Engineering
August 2024
Nuclear Technology
Fusion Science and Technology
Latest News
Vogtle-3 shuts down for valve issue
One of the new Vogtle units in Georgia was shut down unexpectedly on Monday last week for a valve issue that has since been investigated and repaired. According to multiple local news outlets, Georgia Power reported on July 17 that Unit 3 was back in service.
Southern Company spokesperson Jacob Hawkins confirmed that Vogtle-3 went off line at 9:25 p.m. local time on July 8 “due to lowering water levels in the steam generators caused by a valve issue on one of the three main feedwater pumps.”
Alan S. Icenhour, L. M. Toth, Huimin Luo
Nuclear Technology | Volume 147 | Number 2 | August 2004 | Pages 258-268
Technical Paper | Nuclear Plant Operations and Control | doi.org/10.13182/NT04-A3530
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
Experiments have been performed in our laboratory on water sorption and radiolysis for uranium oxides. For the water sorption experiments, uranium oxide samples were prepared and exposed to known levels of humidity to establish the water uptake rate. Subsequently, the amount of water removed was studied by heating samples in an oven at fixed temperatures and by differential thermal analysis/thermogravimetric analysis. It was demonstrated that heating at 650°C adequately removes all moisture from the samples. Uranium-238 oxides were irradiated in a 60Co source and in the high-gamma-radiation fields provided by spent nuclear fuel elements of the High Flux Isotope Reactor. For hydrated samples of UO3, the primary gas produced was H2; however, the maximum pressure increase reached a steady-state value of ~500 torr (10 psi). This H2 production appears to be a function of the dose and the amount of water present. Oxygen in the hydrated UO3 sample atmosphere was typically depleted, and no significant pressure rise was observed. Heat treatment of the UO3xH2O at 650°C results in conversion to U3O8 and eliminates the H2 production. For all of the U3O8 samples loaded in air and irradiated with gamma radiation, a pressure decrease was seen and little, if any, H2 was produced - even for samples with up to 9 wt% moisture content. Hence, these results demonstrated that the efforts to remove trace moisture from U3O8 are not necessary to avoid pressurization of stored uranium oxides caused by gamma-induced radiolysis. In fact, this system can tolerate several percent of sorbed moisture.