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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.
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ANS Student Conference 2025
April 3–5, 2025
Albuquerque, NM|The University of New Mexico
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Latest News
Norway’s Halden reactor takes first step toward decommissioning
The government of Norway has granted the transfer of the Halden research reactor from the Institute for Energy Technology (IFE) to the state agency Norwegian Nuclear Decommissioning (NND). The 25-MWt Halden boiling water reactor operated from 1958 to 2018 and was used in the research of nuclear fuel, reactor internals, plant procedures and monitoring, and human factors.
R. H. Renshaw, S. Roy
Nuclear Technology | Volume 55 | Number 2 | November 1981 | Pages 371-382
Technical Paper | Materials | doi.org/10.13182/NT55-371
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
Twelve steam generators in three nuclear power plants were damaged during manufacture by postweld stress relief heat treatment. This damage was detected after all were installed, but before any of the plants became operational. The steam generators were rebuilt, in situ, by complete replacement of the internals and tubing. The damage caused by heat treatment consisted of indentation of the tubing by distortion of the tube support plates. The indentations produced points of local high stress in the tubing, causing a potential for stress corrosion cracking. The indentations and the distortion of the support plates also prevented free axial motion of the tubing through the support plates in service, and it is thought that some tubes would have failed in service for this reason. The rebuilding program permitted design changes to accommodate technical information accumulated since the vessels were designed in 1975. These design changes principally were a strengthening of internal structural members to resist seismic forces and fluid forces predicted for pipe breaks, substitution of stainless steel for carbon steel tube support plates, a more elastic U-bend restraint design, increase of some clearances to better tolerate in-service thermal distortion, and a redesigned emergency water injection system to promote thermal syphoning of the reactor coolant under accident conditions. New methods of tube expansion, tube-to-tube-sheet welding, and heat treatment of the tubing were developed to facilitate field installation. The work required 15 months. It was planned and executed so that the delays to the erection programs of the plants were minimized. The final result was a significant improvement in the design of the steam generators, and an accumulation of technology that may be useful if steam generators should require in-service retubing.