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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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Nuclear Science and Engineering
August 2024
Nuclear Technology
July 2024
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Latest News
NRC engineers share their expertise at the University of Puerto Rico
Robert Roche-Rivera and Marcos Rolón-Acevedo are licensed professional engineers who work at the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission. They are also alumni of the University of Puerto Rico–Mayagüez (UPRM) and have been sharing their knowledge and experience with students at their alma mater since last year, serving as adjunct professors in the university’s Department of Mechanical Engineering. During the 2023–2024 school year, they each taught two courses: Fundamentals of Nuclear Science and Engineering, and Nuclear Power Plant Engineering.
Timothy Ault, Steven Krahn, Allen Croff
Nuclear Technology | Volume 189 | Number 2 | February 2015 | Pages 152-162
Technical Paper | Fuel Cycle and Management | doi.org/10.13182/NT14-19
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
A long-standing concern about the future implementation of thorium fuel cycles has been the availability of a thorium fuel cycle infrastructure, including thorium mineral recovery. Globally, while thorium is known to be a relatively abundant element, there is currently little commercial demand for thorium, leaving many of the world's largest thorium deposits unexploited. However, adoption and subsequent expansion of the thorium fuel cycle may not require “thorium mines” because a number of mining operations (notably titanium and uranium) already extract considerable amounts of thorium, which is presently discarded. Nearly 100000 tonnes of thorium per year could be recovered from active mine sites, with most of this coming from titanium mining (∼80000 tonnes/yr of thorium) and uranium mining (∼9000 tonnes/yr of thorium). This output would be sufficient to satisfy even the most optimistic demand for thorium resources in the near future.