Publications

A global partnership between nuclear energy supplier nations and user nations could enable the safe and secure expansion of nuclear power throughout the world. Although it is likely that supplier nations and their industries would be anxious to sell reactors and fuel services as part of this partnership, their commitment to close the fuel cycle (i.e., permanently take back fuel and high-level waste) remains unclear. At the 2007 Waste Management Symposia in Tucson, Arizona, USA, a distinguished international panel explored fuel take back and waste disposal from the perspective of current and prospective user nations. This paper reports on the findings of that panel and presents a path for policy makers to move forward with the partnership vision.

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There are both incentives and challenges for applying formal risk management processes to buildings and other structures, including bridges, highways, dams, stadiums, shopping centers, and private dwellings. Based on an assessment of several issues, the authors conclude that for certain types of buildings and structures the time has come for the use of a formal risk-management approach, including probabilistic risk assessment methods, to help identify dominant risks to public health, safety, and security and to help manage these risks in a cost-effective manner.

Hanford`s underground storage tanks (USTs) pose one of the most challenging hazardous and radioactive waste problems for the Department of Energy (DOE). Numerous schemes have been proposed for removing the waste from the USTs, but the technology options for doing this are largely unproven. To help assess the options, an Independent Review Group (IRG) was established to conduct a broad review of retrieval systems and the tank waste remediation system. The IRG consisted of the authors of this report. The IRG`s Preliminary Report assessed retrieval systems for underground storage tank wastes at Hanford in 1992. Westinghouse Hanford Company (WHC) concurred with the report`s recommendation that a tool should be developed for evaluating retrieval concepts. The report recommended that this tool include (1) important considerations identified previously by the IRG, (2) a means of documenting important decisions concerning retrieval systems, and (3) a focus on evaluations and assessments for the Tank Waste Remediation System (TWRS) and the Underground Storage Tank-Integrated Demonstration (UST-ID).

A wide variety of space-based system components have been qualified for use through neutron irradiation testing performed at the Sandia Pulsed Reactor (SPR) Facility. The SPR Facility is the operating location for two fast burst reactors, SPR II and SPR III, which have been used to induce neutron and gamma damage in electronic components and other materials for customers in the Department of Energy, Department of Defense, NASA,, and the private sector. In addition to the pulse mode of operation, during which peak fluxes of up to lel9 n/cm{sup 2}{minus}s are achieved, the steady state mode allows for the long term irradiation of components and systems in a fast neutron environment at a flux of up to 5e11 n/cm{sup 2}{minus}s. The SPR reactors are operated in a 9.2 meter diameter exposure cell, or Kiva, suitable for the irradiation of large test articles external to the reactors. Currently, a new upgraded version of SPR Ill (SPR IIIM) is in fabrication; a unique feature of SPR IIIM is its 19 cm (usable diameter) central irradiation cavity, the largest of any US fast burst reactor. An improved cooling system permits continuous operation at power levels in excess of 20 kW{sub t}. The SPR Facility is also the operating site for a critical assembly which was used to characterize prototypic fuels in arrays appropriate for the Space Nuclear Thermal Propulsion Program. Work continues on use of the facility to design, build, and operate critical assemblies for a diverse customer base.