ANS is committed to advancing, fostering, and promoting the development and application of nuclear sciences and technologies to benefit society.
Explore the many uses for nuclear science and its impact on energy, the environment, healthcare, food, and more.
Division Spotlight
Fuel Cycle & Waste Management
Devoted to all aspects of the nuclear fuel cycle including waste management, worldwide. Division specific areas of interest and involvement include uranium conversion and enrichment; fuel fabrication, management (in-core and ex-core) and recycle; transportation; safeguards; high-level, low-level and mixed waste management and disposal; public policy and program management; decontamination and decommissioning environmental restoration; and excess weapons materials disposition.
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!
Latest Magazine Issues
Jul 2024
Jan 2024
Latest Journal Issues
Nuclear Science and Engineering
August 2024
Nuclear Technology
Fusion Science and Technology
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.”
Mohammad Nurul Islam, Rachel Asit Upadhyay, Carolyn Wehner, Andrew P. Bunger (Univ of Pittsburgh)
Proceedings | 16th International High-Level Radioactive Waste Management Conference (IHLRWM 2017) | Charlotte, NC, April 9-13, 2017 | Pages 294-298
Hydraulic induces swelling of bentonite which can
lead it to extrude into near wellbore fractures, plugging
them and thus effectively reducing the permeability of the
near borehole damage zone. Here we present an
investigation of the length that the bentonite is able to
intrude a near borehole crack, showing the dependence of
this maximum intrusion length on the crack width and the
salinity of the hydrating fluid. From theory we predict two
limiting behaviors. For small widths we predict the
maximum length will increase proportionally to the width,
consistent with a balance of driving and resisting forces
associated with the intrusion. For large widths we predict
the intrusion length will decrease like the inverse of the
width, consistent with volume balance considerations.
Experiments performed in a cell analogous to a borehole
with a single rectangular crack (slot) confirm these
predictions. Furthermore, the observed reduction in the
intrusion length with increasing fluid salinity is shown to
be consistent with the reduced swelling potential of the
bentonite in more saline hydrating fluids.