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Division Spotlight
Reactor Physics
The division's objectives are to promote the advancement of knowledge and understanding of the fundamental physical phenomena characterizing nuclear reactors and other nuclear systems. The division encourages research and disseminates information through meetings and publications. Areas of technical interest include nuclear data, particle interactions and transport, reactor and nuclear systems analysis, methods, design, validation and operating experience and standards. The Wigner Award heads the awards program.
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
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.”
O. G. Romanenko, K. J. Allen, D. M. Wachs, H. P. Planchon, P. B. Wells, J. A. Michelbacher, P. Nazarenko, I. Dumchev, V. Maev, B. Zemtzev, L. Tikhomirov, V. Yakovlev, A. Synkov
Nuclear Technology | Volume 150 | Number 1 | April 2005 | Pages 79-99
Technical Paper | Sodium Technology | doi.org/10.13182/NT05-A3607
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
This paper reports the successful design and operation of a system to remove highly radioactive cesium from the sodium coolant of the BN-350 reactor in Aktau, Kazakhstan. As an international effort between the United States and the Republic of Kazakhstan, a cesium-trapping system was jointly designed, fabricated, installed, and successfully operated. The results are significant for a number of reasons, including (a) a significant reduction of radioactivity levels of the BN-350 coolant and reactor surfaces, thereby reducing exposure to workers during shutdown operations; (b) demonstration of scientific ideas; and (c) the engineering application of effective cesium trap deployment for commercial-sized liquid-metal reactors. About 255 300 GBq (6900 Ci) of cesium was trapped, and the 137Cs specific activity in BN-350 primary sodium was decreased from 296 MBq/kg (8000 Ci/kg) to 0.37 MBq/kg (10 Ci/kg) by using seven cesium traps containing reticulated vitreous carbon (RVC) as the cesium adsorbent. Cesium trapping was accomplished by pumping sodium from the primary circuit, passing it through a block of RVC within each trap, and returning the cleaned sodium to the primary circuit. Both to predict and to analyze the behavior of the cesium traps in the BN-350 reactor primary circuit, a model was developed that satisfactorily describes the observed results of the cesium trapping. By using this model, thermodynamic parameters, such as the heat of adsorption of cesium atoms on RVC and on internal piping surfaces of the BN-350 reactor primary circuit, -22.7 and -5.0 kJ/mole, respectively, were extracted from the experimental data.