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Decommissioning & Environmental Sciences
The mission of the Decommissioning and Environmental Sciences (DES) Division is to promote the development and use of those skills and technologies associated with the use of nuclear energy and the optimal management and stewardship of the environment, sustainable development, decommissioning, remediation, reutilization, and long-term surveillance and maintenance of nuclear-related installations, and sites. The target audience for this effort is the membership of the Division, the Society, and the public at large.
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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.”
J. H. Song, J. H. Kim, S. W. Hong, B. T. Min, S. H. Hong
Nuclear Technology | Volume 160 | Number 3 | December 2007 | Pages 279-293
Technical Paper | Reactor Safety | doi.org/10.13182/NT07-A3899
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
To simulate a fuel and coolant interaction phenomenon during a postulated severe accident in a nuclear reactor, a series of experiments were performed using a partially oxidized corium, which is a mixture of UO2, ZrO2, Zr, and stainless steel. The composition of the melt was chosen such that a separation of the oxidic liquid from the metallic liquid occurred due to the existence of a miscibility gap. A melting and solidifying experiment and two fuel and coolant interaction experiments to explore the possibility of an energetic steam explosion were performed in the TROI facility.The placement of a metal-rich layer consisting of U, Fe, and ZrO2 beneath the oxidic corium layer due to the existence of a miscibility gap was observed in the melting and solidifying experiment. An energetic steam explosion with a propagation of the dynamic pressure wave was observed in one test out of the two tests. The physical and chemical analyses were performed for the corium particles collected after the experiments. It is shown that U, Zr, and Fe formed a heterogeneous mixture and the morphology was in irregular shape with many pores at nonuniform sizes. In the case of nonenergetic interaction, where the melt temperature was lower than the energetic case, the mean particle size was bigger than that of the energetic case, and the melt-water interaction resulted in a substantial amount of hydrogen gas generation, while the amount of hydrogen gas generation was negligible in the case with an energetic steam explosion.