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Division Spotlight
Fuel Cycle & Waste Management
Devoted to all aspects of the nuclear fuel cycle including waste management, worldwide. Division specific areas of interest and involvement include uranium conversion and enrichment; fuel fabrication, management (in-core and ex-core) and recycle; transportation; safeguards; high-level, low-level and mixed waste management and disposal; public policy and program management; decontamination and decommissioning environmental restoration; and excess weapons materials disposition.
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
Uranium spot price closes out 2024 at $72.63/lb
The uranium market closed out 2024 with a spot price of $72.63 per pound and a long-term price of $80.50 per pound, according to global uranium provider Cameco.
Terumitsu Miura, Toru Obara, Hiroshi Sekimoto
Nuclear Technology | Volume 155 | Number 1 | July 2006 | Pages 78-89
Technical Paper | Nuclear Plant Operations and Control | doi.org/10.13182/NT06-A3747
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
Polonium contamination on material surfaces has been considered one of the problems in the use of lead-bismuth eutectic (LBE) as a coolant and/or target in nuclear systems. Neutron-irradiated LBE contains polonium and can contaminate material surfaces of the primary loop in nuclear systems. Some methods for removal of polonium from neutron-irradiated LBE have been investigated. In this paper, the theory and the effectiveness of the baking method for polonium decontamination of a material surface contaminated by neutron-irradiated LBE are described. Theoretical investigation of the baking method was performed using Langmuir's equation. The effectiveness of the baking method was investigated by baking experiments using Type 316 stainless steel plates contaminated by neutron-irradiated LBE. The experimental results indicated that the baking method is effective for polonium decontamination when the baking temperature is more than 500°C in a vacuum condition (0.4 Pa). The effective temperature for polonium decontamination of Type 316 plates differed from that of quartz glass plates previously reported. Comparing the experimental results and calculations of the evaporation rate of polonium compound by Langmuir's equation showed that the difference in effective temperatures was due to the different chemical forms of polonium, i.e., elemental polonium and lead polonide.