ANS Nuclear Cafe

The ANS Nuclear Cafe is a blog owned and edited by the American Nuclear Society. Information contained on the ANS Nuclear Cafe has been provided by numerous sources. Therefore, the American Nuclear Society assumes no responsibility or liability for the accuracy of information contained herein. DISCLAIMER: The views expressed in posted articles do not necessarily reflect the views of the American Nuclear Society. The views expressed here are those of the individual authors. ANS takes no ownership of their views. The American Nuclear Society assumes no responsibility or liability for any use or operation of any methods, products, instructions, or ideas contained on this site.


The Hubbub Over Iran's Heavy Water

August 7, 2016, 10:17PMANS Nuclear CafeAndrew Reimers

More than a year after the P5+1 and Iran agreed to the terms of the Iran nuclear deal, the debate in the U.S. over the deal's implementation is far from over. In recent months, part of that debate has been focused on what should be done about Iran's stockpile of heavy water. The ongoing controversy offers an opportunity to discuss the provisions in the deal regarding the country's heavy water program and to provide some context for the role of heavy water in the history of nuclear proliferation.

Elk River - Rural America's First Atomic Power Plant

July 28, 2016, 2:45PMANS Nuclear Cafe

Elk River Generating Station, Rural Cooperative Power Association, Elk River, Minnesota.

The Elk River reactor, as it was generally known in the AEC parlance of the day, was a pioneering effort in America's nuclear energy history.  Hailed widely as "Rural America's first atomic power plant," the intention was to provide a pilot installation of a small, simple, and inexpensive nuclear steam supply system that could be duplicated at many far flung locations.  Unfortunately for the concept, the Elk River plant in the end proved unable to meet the task for technical reasons; yet, it remains firmly in history as one of the well known early nuclear energy installations.  What follows is a brief history of the project and its major players.

Nuclear Energy in the Developing World

July 21, 2016, 2:54PMANS Nuclear CafeBeth Piper

As of this year, more and more developing nations around the world are actively considering nuclear power as a practical energy solution. Taking into account the looming depletion of fossil fuels and rapidly worsening impacts of climate change, the benefits of nuclear are becoming harder to ignore - as a safe, reliable and carbon-free source of energy, it's a viable path to growth for nations grasping at the chance of a sustainable future.

Small Modular Reactors Take Large Step Forward

July 20, 2016, 12:03PMANS Nuclear Cafe

In recent years the allure of small, flexible, easy to construct and operate nuclear plants incorporating small modular reactors (SMR) have continued to grow for a host of reasons. Here in the United States, we've watched the saga of the SMR unfold fairly slowly over the last few years, as companies have entered the fray to various levels of success and have achieved varied degrees of progress.*  Now, the latest large step in getting these small and versatile reactors into the worldwide commercial market has been taken - by an effort involving Saudi Arabia and South Korea.

Who is Qualified to Determine Nuclear Plant Safety?

July 13, 2016, 8:58PMANS Nuclear Cafe

Kansai Electric Power's Takahama Nuclear Generating Station.  Unit 1 and 2 are on the right; Units 3 and 4 are in the background on the left.  Courtesy Kansai Electric Power.

Kansai Electric Power's Takahama Nuclear Generating Station. Unit 1 and 2 are on the right; Units 3 and 4 are in the background on the left. Courtesy Kansai Electric Power.

On July 12, the Otsu District Court in Japan made a significant decision regarding the future of Kansai Electric Power's Takahama nuclear station when it upheld a previous lower court injunction against the operation of Units 3 and 4 at that site.  The district court had received a petition from just over two dozen intervenors in Shiga Prefecture earlier this year; legal wrangling ensued, with Kansai Electric filing an objection which ultimately today appears to have fallen on deaf ears.  As it now stands, there is a provisional injunction against the startup of these two plants.

Project 81 - An Almost Forgotten Standard Nuclear Plant Project

June 28, 2016, 5:56PMANS Nuclear CafeWill Davis

Perkins Nuclear Station layout as depicted in "Design Data and Safety Features of Commercial Nuclear Power Plants, Vol IV," Oak Ridge Nat'l Labs / Nuclear Safety Information Center, March 1975.

Perkins Nuclear Station layout as depicted in "Design Data and Safety Features of Commercial Nuclear Power Plants, Vol IV," Oak Ridge Nat'l Labs/Nuclear Safety Information Center, March 1975.

It is a common myth today that all of the nuclear plants historically ordered in the United States were unique, custom design and construction jobs. Many of the plants were built from standardized design drawings developed by established architect-engineer (A-E) firms in order to ease the work load and speed up progress on individual projects. In such cases, standard nuclear plant drawings were the basis for any given project the A-E took on.Over time, incremental changes were made in the drawings and of course customer-specific and site-specific changes needed to be made, as well as specific adaptations for the make of nuclear steam supply system (NSSS) ordered by the customer. Stone & Webster as well as Sargent & Lundy were just two of the A-E firms that developed and used standard drawings, leading to there being a number of very similar nuclear plants in different places, built for different owners. Some projects, however, were even more repetitive than these.

Nuclear: Breathe a Little Easier During National Safety Month

June 20, 2016, 3:21PMANS Nuclear CafeBeth Piper

June is National Safety Month, an initiative of the National Safety Council. For more than 100 years, this organization has worked to promote awareness and further safety advocacy efforts to reduce accidental injuries and deaths throughout the United States. Preventing avoidable disasters is important in all energy industries, but it takes special precedence in the field of nuclear power.

Hybrid Energy Systems - Why We Might Need Them

June 15, 2016, 2:46PMANS Nuclear CafeWill Davis

Today's panel at the ANS 2016 Annual Meeting on hybrid energy systems might seem at first like somewhat of a misplaced effort, but it's certain judging by the varied content provided at this and other sessions this week as well as by comments of varied experts that grid flexibility will be the "name of the game" as time goes on.  Hybrid energy systems, which combine more than one "prime mover" or energy generating source, may be one key to making it possible for nuclear energy to stay in the US game in the long term.

Consolidated Storage of Commercial Used Fuel

June 15, 2016, 11:51AMANS Nuclear CafeWill Davis

Used nuclear fuel storage; photo courtesy Oak Ridge National Laboratory, a division of the US Department of Energy

An interesting session at the ANS 2016 Annual Meeting, sponsored by the Fuel Cycle & Waste Management Division, saw the presentation of a number of interesting papers relative to the ever-increasing problem of used nuclear fuel at the various commercial nuclear plant sites in the United States.  Not only does the used fuel (which is a far better term than "spent fuel," these days, since it can conceivably be reused) continue to accumulate at the nuclear plants, but there is also a considerable amount of used fuel being stored at various sites where the nuclear plants have actually been shut down, decommissioned and completely removed for years.  Considering this, and the need to inventory, characterize and eventually move this material, a growing amount of interest is being shown in this field.