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Explore the many uses for nuclear science and its impact on energy, the environment, healthcare, food, and more.
Division Spotlight
Aerospace Nuclear Science & Technology
Organized to promote the advancement of knowledge in the use of nuclear science and technologies in the aerospace application. Specialized nuclear-based technologies and applications are needed to advance the state-of-the-art in aerospace design, engineering and operations to explore planetary bodies in our solar system and beyond, plus enhance the safety of air travel, especially high speed air travel. Areas of interest will include but are not limited to the creation of nuclear-based power and propulsion systems, multifunctional materials to protect humans and electronic components from atmospheric, space, and nuclear power system radiation, human factor strategies for the safety and reliable operation of nuclear power and propulsion plants by non-specialized personnel and more.
Meeting Spotlight
Conference on Nuclear Training and Education: A Biennial International Forum (CONTE 2025)
February 3–6, 2025
Amelia Island, FL|Omni Amelia Island Resort
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
“Summer time” again? Santee Cooper thinks so
South Carolina public utility Santee Cooper and its partner South Carolina Electric & Gas (SCE&G) called a halt to the Summer-2 and -3 AP1000 construction project in July 2017, citing costly delays and the bankruptcy of Westinghouse. The well-chronicled legal fallout included indictments and settlements, and ultimately left Santee Cooper with the ownership of nonnuclear assets at the construction site in Jenkinsville, S.C.
David E. Holcomb (ORNL), Roger A. Kisner (ORNL (retired)), K. Kyle Reed, James Bate, James R. Keiser (ORNL)
Proceedings | Nuclear Plant Instrumentation, Control, and Human-Machine Interface Technolgies (NPIC&HMIT 2019) | Orlando, FL, February 9-14, 2019 | Pages 222-237
A novel in-situ corrosion sensor for structural alloys exposed to molten salts has been initially demonstrated. The measurement is based upon observing the change in magnetic susceptibility of salt wetted structural alloys as corrosion occurs. In halide salts corrosion of structural alloys proceeds primarily through dissolution of the least noble component of the alloy into the melt. All currently available structural alloys intended for use with molten salt reactors (MSRs) include nickel, chromium, and iron. Chromium is preferentially oxidized from the alloy surface by exposure to halide salts at high temperature. Diffusion within the alloy results in progressively deeper depletion of chromium from the alloy surface. Relevant chromium bearing structural alloys are paramagnetic. However, once the chromium has been depleted, they become ferromagnetic. Thus, structural alloy corrosion in an MSR results in development of a ferromagnetic surface layer whose depth increases with increasing corrosion. The corrosion sensor functions by employing the progressive increase in ferromagnetism as a transduction mechanism through including the corroding alloy in a magnetic circuit. To date we have characterized the sensor response of structural alloy samples with varying degrees of corrosion at room temperature. Over the next year, we plan to demonstrate sensor performance at MSR operating temperatures (up to 750 °C) in a piping geometry. Development of the sensor remains a work in progress as the aim is to install a corrosion monitor to operate over extended periods with only the corroding component exposed to salt (which could be the pipe itself). This configuration can be accomplished so that measurement magnetics and electronics are external to the pipe. Presumably, the instrument would continuously relay corrosion progress via electronic communications.