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Division Spotlight
Robotics & Remote Systems
The Mission of the Robotics and Remote Systems Division is to promote the development and application of immersive simulation, robotics, and remote systems for hazardous environments for the purpose of reducing hazardous exposure to individuals, reducing environmental hazards and reducing the cost of performing work.
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.”
Robert E. Einziger, Carl Beyer
Nuclear Technology | Volume 159 | Number 2 | August 2007 | Pages 134-146
Technical Paper | Fuel Cycle and Management | doi.org/10.13182/NT07-A3860
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
Current risk assessments of spent fuel in storage and transportation casks use the properties of light water reactor fuel below 45 GWd/t U. Fuel is being driven to higher burnups that may influence the source term in cask accidents. To achieve these burnups the manufacturers are introducing new assembly designs and cladding alloys. As a result, at the higher burnups (50 GWd/t U) some of the characteristics of the fuel pellets, cladding, and assembly design used in the safety analysis have changed. The fuel pellet has developed a fine-grained, Pu-rich rim zone on its exterior surface. The source term may increase by up to three orders of magnitude over that expected from the particulate size distribution based on the fracture of the body of the pellets. The actual increase will depend on the fracture characteristics of the rim and number of fracture sites in the cladding. The cladding may acquire hydrogen contents up to 700 parts per million by weight during the increased exposure. Embrittlement of the cladding with subsequent loss of ductility may occur, especially if there is hydride reorientation. As a result, there may be a greater propensity for fracture of the rods upon impact, with subsequent release of fuel particulate and gas. Significantly improved source terms can be developed if additional data on fuel rim fracture as a function of impact energy, the dependence of cladding ductility for Zircaloy and the newer cladding alloys as a function of hydride reorientation, and release characteristics for fractured rods are obtained. Chalk River unidentified deposit spallation characteristics only make a significant contribution to the source term if the rods do not fracture in the accident or if a fire-only accident occurs.