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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.
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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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Latest News
First astatine-labeled compound shipped in the U.S.
The Department of Energy’s National Isotope Development Center (NIDC) on March 31 announced the successful long-distance shipment in the United States of a biologically active compound labeled with the medical radioisotope astatine-211 (At-211). Because previous shipments have included only the “bare” isotope, the NIDC has described the development as “unleashing medical innovation.”
P. Minelli, M. Golay, J. Buongiorno, N. Todreas (MIT)
Proceedings | 2018 International Congress on Advances in Nuclear Power Plants (ICAPP 2018) | Charlotte, NC, April 8-11, 2018 | Pages 988-997
The Offshore Floating Nuclear Plant (OFNP) design creatively builds on two established technologies, namely light water reactors (LWRs) and floating oil/gas platforms. Marine siting as well as several design features produce a particularly safe plant. The concept exploits the advances and experience in the construction of large floating structures in the oil/gas offshore industry and naval shipyards to decrease construction time and cost compared to standard nuclear power plants.
This work aims to compare the Net Present Value (NPV) of two different projects, when important uncertainties are taken into account:
- Construction of multiple (up to four) small modularunits (275 MW each)
- Construction of one single unit of equivalent power(1100 MW).
Some of the major sources of uncertainties in large and complex nuclear projects are price of electricity, construction cost, discount rate, years of operation, capacity factor and transportation costs. Such sources of uncertainty are quantified through specification of documented averages and reasonable ranges of variability.
This information is first used to perform a sensitivity analysis which shows that the NPV of an OFNP project is affected most strongly by price of electricity, construction cost and discount rate. Then, all uncertainties are assigned a probability distribution function (pdf) and combined with a Monte Carlo approach to generate a pdf for the NPV of a project.
The results show that construction of four small modular units is the preferred alternative as it is characterized by a higher average and median NPV. Additional qualitative advantages of the smaller modular units include the lower initial capital expenses, hence lower financial risk, and higher project flexibility overall.
