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Nuclear Installations Safety
Devoted specifically to the safety of nuclear installations and the health and safety of the public, this division seeks a better understanding of the role of safety in the design, construction and operation of nuclear installation facilities. The division also promotes engineering and scientific technology advancement associated with the safety of such facilities.
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ANS Student Conference 2025
April 3–5, 2025
Albuquerque, NM|The University of New Mexico
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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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El Salvador: Looking to nuclear
In 2022, El Salvador’s leadership decided to expand its modest, mostly hydro- and geothermal-based electricity system, which is supported by expensive imported natural gas and diesel generation. They chose to use advanced nuclear reactors, preferably fueled by thorium-based fuels, to power their civilian efforts. The choice of thorium was made to inform the world that the reactor program was for civilian purposes only, and so they chose a fuel that was plentiful, easy to source and work with, and not a proliferation risk.
Douglas M. Gerstner, James R. Parry, David J. Broussard, Brandon L. Moon, Anthony W. LaPorta, Charles P. Forshee, Lawrence J. Harrison, Monty L. Conley
Nuclear Technology | Volume 205 | Number 10 | October 2019 | Pages 1266-1289
Technical Paper | doi.org/10.1080/00295450.2018.1556993
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
The TREAT facility suspended operations in 1994 after decades of highly successful operation. The TREAT facility began operations in 1958 with a hazards summary report that met the safety-basis regulatory requirements at that time. The TREAT safety basis was later updated in the early 1980s to include a Final Safety Analysis Report (FSAR) and Technical Specifications (TSs) that met the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) regulatory requirements at that time. The last substantial update of the TREAT safety-basis documents was performed in 1988 prior to suspension of operations in 1994. After the last update, significant changes in DOE regulatory foundation occurred with nuclear safety rule codification in 10 CFR 830, “Nuclear Safety Management.”
To support resumption of transient testing operations, a complete modernization and a significant rewrite of the TREAT safety-basis documents were required to meet 10 CFR 830, Subpart B, “Safety Basis Requirements.” In addition, a completely updated nuclear safety accident analysis was required to support the current operating strategy and a modern safety posture, as well as bound the safe operations of future experiments.
No one clear regulatory format and content template or guide exists for the FSAR and TS for a pulse-type, air-cooled, graphite-moderated DOE reactor such as TREAT. This paper discusses the unique challenges with (1) updating the TREAT safety basis to current DOE regulatory requirements to support the resumption of transient testing operations; (2) documenting that the TREAT design, safety analysis, and operations ensure that the facility is operated safely; and (3) providing an analysis that supports future experiment operations.
The successful approval of the updated TREAT safety basis was a key milestone in the Resumption of Transient Testing Program.