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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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2024 ANS Annual Conference
June 16–19, 2024
Las Vegas, NV|Mandalay Bay Resort and Casino
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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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Latest News
Proving DRACO will deliver
The United States is now closer than it has been in over five decades to launching the first nuclear thermal rocket into space, thanks to DRACO—the Demonstration Rocket for Agile Cislunar Orbit.
Seong-Wan Hong, Sang Ho Kim, Rae-Joon Park
Nuclear Technology | Volume 206 | Number 3 | March 2020 | Pages 401-413
Technical Paper | doi.org/10.1080/00295450.2019.1654816
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
In the postulated severe accidents of nuclear power plants, the interaction mode of the molten corium with water happens differently depending on the height of the water level in the reactor cavity. The interaction of the molten corium with the partially filled water in the reactor cavity has been extensively studied. The molten corium in this case was released into the water after free falling to some distance. Meanwhile, some advanced reactors have adapted the in-vessel corium retention concept by cooling the reactor vessel’s outside wall. If a reactor vessel failure happens in this case, the molten corium in the reactor vessel is injected directly into the water without any free fall. Triggered steam explosion experiments were carried out to compare the explosion behavior conditions of the partially flooded cavity and ex-vessel cooling. It was found that the jet breakup process before the explosion appeared differently between the two experiments. These behaviors contributed to the differences in the maximum dynamic pressure and load that express the explosion’s strength. The explosion’s strength under the partially flooded cavity condition was about two times stronger than that under ex-vessel cooling. Accordingly, it is believed that the steam explosions under conditions of ex-vessel cooling are of less concern than the partially flooded cavity condition.