FY 2019 Final Fee Rule Using the Associated with the Act Includes Current FY and Not Carryover Funds
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NUREG-1350, Vol. 31, Information
NRC Figure 31. Moisture Density Guage Bioshield Gauge Surface Detectors Depth Radiation Source GLOSSARY 159 GLOSSARY Glossary (Abbreviations, Definitions, and Illustrations) Advanced reactors Reactors that differ from today’s reactors primarily by their use of inert gases, molten salt mixtures, or liquid metals to cool the reactor core. Advanced reactors can also consider fuel materials and designs that differ radically from today’s enriched-uranium dioxide pellets within zirconium cladding. Agreement State A U.S. State that has signed an agreement with the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) authorizing the State to regulate certain uses of radioactive materials within the State. Atomic energy The energy that is released through a nuclear reaction or radioactive decay process. One kind of nuclear reaction is fission, which occurs in a nuclear reactor and releases energy, usually in the form of heat and radiation. In a nuclear power plant, this heat is used to boil water to produce steam that can be used to drive large turbines. The turbines drive generators to produce electrical power. NUCLEUS FRAGMENT Nuclear Reaction NUCLEUS NEW NEUTRON NEUTRON Background radiation The natural radiation that is always present in the environment. It includes cosmic radiation that comes from the sun and stars, terrestrial radiation that comes from the Earth, and internal radiation that exists in all living things and enters organisms by ingestion or inhalation. The typical average individual exposure in the United States from natural background sources is about 310 millirem (3.1 millisievert) per year. 160 8 GLOSSARY 8 Boiling-water reactor (BWR) A nuclear reactor in which water is boiled using heat released from fission. -
Consideration of Low Enriched Uranium Space Reactors
AlM Propul~oo aoo Eo«gy Forum 10.25 1416 .20 18~3 Jllly9-11, 2018,0ncinoaoi,Obio 2018 Joi.ot PropuiS;ion Confereoce Chock fof updates Consideration of Low Enriched Uranium Space Reactors David Lee Black, Ph.D. 1 Retired, Formerly Westinghouse Electric Corporation, Washington, DC, 20006. USA The Federal Government (NASA, DOE) has recently shown interest in low enrichment uranium (LEU) reactors for space power and propulsion through its studies at national laboratories and a contract with private industry. Several non-governmental organizations have strongly encouraged this approach for nuclear non-proliferation and safety reasons. All previous efforts have been with highly enriched uranium (HEU) reactors. This study evaluates and compares the effects of changing from HEU reactors with greater than 90% U-235 to LEU with less than 20% U-235. A simple analytic approach was used, the validity of which has been established by comparison with existing test data for graphite fuel only. This study did not include cermet fuel. Four configurations were analyzed: NERVA NRX, LANL's SNRE, LEU, and generic critical HEU and LEU reactors without a reflector. The nuclear criticality multiplication factor, size, weight and system thermodynamic performance were compared, showing the strong dependence on moderator-to-fuel ratio in the reactor. The conclusions are that LEU reactors can be designed to meet mission requirements of lifetime and operability. It ,.;u be larger and heavier by about 4000 lbs than a highly enriched uranium reactor to meet the same requirements. Mission planners should determine the penalty of the added weight on payload. The amount ofU-235 in an HEU core is not significantly greater in an LEU design with equal nuclear requirements. -
The Nuclear Fuel Cycle
THE COLLECTION > From the uranium mine> toI wNTasRtOeD dUisCpToIsOaN l 1 > The atom 2 > Radioactivity 3 > Radiation and man 4 > Energy 5 > Nuclear energy: fusion and fission 6 > How a nuclear reactor works 7 > The nuclear fuel cycle 7 > The nuclear fuel cycle FROM RESEARCH 8 > Microelectronics 9 > The laser: a concentrate of light TO INDUSTRY 10 > Medical imaging 11 > Nuclear astrophysics 12 > Hydrogen 7 >>TThhee nnuucclleeaarr ffuueell ccyyccllee UPSTREAM THE REACTOR: PREPARING THE FUEL IN THE REACTOR: FUEL CONSUMPTION DOWNSTREAM THE REACTOR: REPROCESSING NUCLEAR WASTE NUCLEAR WASTE © Commissariat à l’’Énergie Atomique et aux Energies Alternatives, 2005 Communication Division Bâtiment Siège - 91191 Gif-sur-Yvette cedex www.cea.fr ISSN 1637-5408. From the uranium mine to waste disposal 7 > The nuclear fuel cycle From the uranium mine to waste disposal 7 > The nuclear fuel cycle 2 > CONTENTS > INTRODUCTION 3 Uranium ore is extracted from open-pit mines – such as the McClear mines in Canada seen here – or underground workings. a m e g o C © “The nuclear fuel cycle includes an erray UPSTREAM THE REACTOR: of industrial operations, from uranium PREPARING THE FUEL 4 e mining to the disposal of radioactive l Extracting uranium from the ore 5 waste.” c Concentrating and refining uranium 6 y Enriching uranium 6 c Enrichment methods 8 l introduction uel is a material that can be burnt to pro - IN THE REACTOR: FUEL CONSUMPTION 9 Fvide heat. The most familiar fuels are wood, e Preparing fuel assemblies 10 coal, natural gas and oil. By analogy, the ura - e g a nium used in nuclear power plants is called Per unit or mass (e.g. -
Fission-Produced 99Mo Without a Nuclear Reactor
BRIEF COMMUNICATIONS Fission-Produced 99Mo Without a Nuclear Reactor Amanda J. Youker, Sergey D. Chemerisov, Peter Tkac, Michael Kalensky, Thad A. Heltemes, David A. Rotsch, George F. Vandegrift, John F. Krebs, Vakho Makarashvili, and Dominique C. Stepinski Argonne National Laboratory, Nuclear Engineering Division, Argonne, Illinois halted in the past due to inclement weather, natural phenomena, 99Mo, the parent of the widely used medical isotope 99mTc, is cur- flight delays, and terrorist threats (6). rently produced by irradiation of enriched uranium in nuclear reac- The predominant global 99Mo production route is irradiation of tors. The supply of this isotope is encumbered by the aging of these highly enriched uranium (HEU, $20% 235U) solid targets in nuclear reactors and concerns about international transportation and nu- reactors fueled by uranium (2). Other potential 99Mo production Methods: clear proliferation. We report results for the production paths include (n,g)98Mo and (g,n)100Mo; however, both routes re- of 99Mo from the accelerator-driven subcritical fission of an aqueous quire enriched molybdenum material and produce low-specific- solution containing low enriched uranium. The predominately fast 99 neutrons generated by impinging high-energy electrons onto a tan- activity Mo, which cannot be loaded directly on a commercial 99m talum convertor are moderated to thermal energies to increase fission Tc generator. The U.S. National Nuclear Security Administra- processes. The separation, recovery, and purification of 99Mo were tion implements the long-standing U.S. policy to minimize and demonstrated using a recycled uranyl sulfate solution. Conclusion: eliminate HEU in civilian applications by working to convert re- The 99Mo yield and purity were found to be unaffected by reuse of the search reactors and medical isotope production facilities to low previously irradiated and processed uranyl sulfate solution. -
Appendix: Key Concepts and Vocabulary for Nuclear Energy
Appendix: Key Concepts and Vocabulary for Nuclear Energy The likelihood of fission depends on, among other Power Plant things, the energy of the incoming neutron. Some In most power plants around the world, heat, usually nuclei can undergo fission even when hit by a low- produced in the form of steam, is converted to energy neutron. Such elements are called fissile. electricity. The heat could come through the burning The most important fissile nuclides are the uranium of coal or natural gas, in the case of fossil-fueled isotopes, uranium-235 and uranium-233, and the power plants, or the fission of uranium or plutonium plutonium isotope, plutonium-239. Isotopes are nuclei. The rate of electrical power production in variants of the same chemical element that have these power plants is usually measured in megawatts the same number of protons and electrons, but or millions of watts, and a typical large coal or nuclear differ in the number of neutrons. Of these, only power plant today produces electricity at a rate of uranium-235 is found in nature, and it is found about 1,000 megawatts. A much smaller physical only in very low concentrations. Uranium in nature unit, the kilowatt, is a thousand watts, and large contains 0.7 percent uranium-235 and 99.3 percent household appliances use electricity at a rate of a few uranium-238. This more abundant variety is an kilowatts when they are running. The reader will have important example of a nucleus that can be split only heard about the “kilowatt-hour,” which is the amount by a high-energy neutron. -
Curium Is the First North American Manufacturer Offering Exclusively 100% LEU Generators
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE January 16, 2018 Curium Is the First North American Manufacturer Offering Exclusively 100% LEU Generators (St. Louis - January 16, 2018) — Curium, a leading nuclear medicine solutions provider, announced today that the company is the first North American manufacturer to meet the deadline established by the American Medical Isotopes Production Act of 2012. This legislation effectively mandates the full conversion away from highly enriched uranium (HEU) as soon as possible and no later than January 2020. Curium’s multi-year project to transition its molybdenum-99 (Mo-99) processing facility from HEU to low enriched uranium (LEU) was completed in late-2017. This project makes Curium the only North American Technetium Tc 99m Generator manufacturer able to supply its customers exclusively with 100 percent LEU Tc 99m generators. Mo-99 is the parent isotope of Tc 99m, which is used in 30 to 40 million nuclear medicine procedures worldwide every year1. Curium is the world’s largest supplier of Tc 99m generators and the largest user of Mo- 99 in the world. “This milestone helps satisfy the goals set forth by the Department of Energy’s (DOE) National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) and confirms our support for the NNSA project to eliminate the use of weapons-grade uranium in the production of medical isotopes. We are eager to see others follow our lead and comply with the government’s call for full conversion as soon possible” says Curium North American CEO, Dan Brague. This project is the culmination of more than seven years of work, requiring close collaboration with Curium’s irradiation partners: the Dutch High Flux Reactor, the Polish MARIA reactor, and BR2 in Belgium, as well as, the DOE and NNSA. -
Fission and Fusion Can Yield Energy
Nuclear Energy Nuclear energy can also be separated into 2 separate forms: nuclear fission and nuclear fusion. Nuclear fusion is the splitting of large atomic nuclei into smaller elements releasing energy, and nuclear fusion is the joining of two small atomic nuclei into a larger element and in the process releasing energy. The mass of a nucleus is always less than the sum of the individual masses of the protons and neutrons which constitute it. The difference is a measure of the nuclear binding energy which holds the nucleus together (Figure 1). As figures 1 and 2 below show, the energy yield from nuclear fusion is much greater than nuclear fission. Figure 1 2 Nuclear binding energy = ∆mc For the alpha particle ∆m= 0.0304 u which gives a binding energy of 28.3 MeV. (Figure from: http://hyperphysics.phy-astr.gsu.edu/hbase/nucene/nucbin.html ) Fission and fusion can yield energy Figure 2 (Figure from: http://hyperphysics.phy-astr.gsu.edu/hbase/nucene/nucbin.html) Nuclear fission When a neutron is fired at a uranium-235 nucleus, the nucleus captures the neutron. It then splits into two lighter elements and throws off two or three new neutrons (the number of ejected neutrons depends on how the U-235 atom happens to split). The two new atoms then emit gamma radiation as they settle into their new states. (John R. Huizenga, "Nuclear fission", in AccessScience@McGraw-Hill, http://proxy.library.upenn.edu:3725) There are three things about this induced fission process that make it especially interesting: 1) The probability of a U-235 atom capturing a neutron as it passes by is fairly high. -
Highly Enriched Uranium: Striking a Balance
OFFICIAL USE ONLY - DRAFT GLOSSARY OF TERMS APPENDIX F GLOSSARY OF TERMS Accountability: That part of the safeguards and security program that encompasses the measurement and inventory verification systems, records, and reports to account for nuclear materials. Assay: Measurement that establishes the total quantity of the isotope of an element and the total quantity of that element. Atom: The basic component of all matter. Atoms are the smallest part of an element that have all of the chemical properties of that element. Atoms consist of a nucleus of protons and neutrons surrounded by electrons. Atomic energy: All forms of energy released in the course of nuclear fission or nuclear transformation. Atomic weapon: Any device utilizing atomic energy, exclusive of the means for transportation or propelling the device (where such means is a separable and divisible part of the device), the principal purpose of which is for use as, or for development of, a weapon, a weapon prototype, or a weapon test device. Blending: The intentional mixing of two different assays of the same material in order to achieve a desired third assay. Book inventory: The quantity of nuclear material present at a given time as reflected by accounting records. Burnup: A measure of consumption of fissionable material in reactor fuel. Burnup can be expressed as (a) the percentage of fissionable atoms that have undergone fission or capture, or (b) the amount of energy produced per unit weight of fuel in the reactor. Chain reaction: A self-sustaining series of nuclear fission reactions. Neutrons produced by fission cause more fission. Chain reactions are essential to the functioning of nuclear reactors and weapons. -
System Studies of Fission-Fusion Hybrid Molten Salt Reactors
University of Tennessee, Knoxville TRACE: Tennessee Research and Creative Exchange Doctoral Dissertations Graduate School 12-2013 SYSTEM STUDIES OF FISSION-FUSION HYBRID MOLTEN SALT REACTORS Robert D. Woolley University of Tennessee - Knoxville, [email protected] Follow this and additional works at: https://trace.tennessee.edu/utk_graddiss Part of the Nuclear Engineering Commons Recommended Citation Woolley, Robert D., "SYSTEM STUDIES OF FISSION-FUSION HYBRID MOLTEN SALT REACTORS. " PhD diss., University of Tennessee, 2013. https://trace.tennessee.edu/utk_graddiss/2628 This Dissertation is brought to you for free and open access by the Graduate School at TRACE: Tennessee Research and Creative Exchange. It has been accepted for inclusion in Doctoral Dissertations by an authorized administrator of TRACE: Tennessee Research and Creative Exchange. For more information, please contact [email protected]. To the Graduate Council: I am submitting herewith a dissertation written by Robert D. Woolley entitled "SYSTEM STUDIES OF FISSION-FUSION HYBRID MOLTEN SALT REACTORS." I have examined the final electronic copy of this dissertation for form and content and recommend that it be accepted in partial fulfillment of the equirr ements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy, with a major in Nuclear Engineering. Laurence F. Miller, Major Professor We have read this dissertation and recommend its acceptance: Ronald E. Pevey, Arthur E. Ruggles, Robert M. Counce Accepted for the Council: Carolyn R. Hodges Vice Provost and Dean of the Graduate School (Original signatures are on file with official studentecor r ds.) SYSTEM STUDIES OF FISSION-FUSION HYBRID MOLTEN SALT REACTORS A Dissertation Presented for the Doctor of Philosophy Degree The University of Tennessee, Knoxville Robert D. -
Advisory Committee on the Medical Uses of Isotopes
Advisory Committee on the Medical Uses of Isotopes June 25, 2009 Overview • Dr. William Van Decker Perspectives on the Clinical Benefit of Diagnostic Nuclear Medicine • Mr. Steve Mattmuller Medical Isotope Shortages • Dr. Bruce Thomadsen Cesium-137 Chloride Irradiators • Dr. Darrell Fisher Cobalt-60 for Gamma Stereotactic Radiosurgery • Dr. James Welsh Medical Events Involving Permanent Prostate Brachytherapy 2 National Council on Radiation Protection and Measurements Report 160: Perspectives on the Clinical Benefit of Diagnostic Nuclear Medicine William A. Van Decker, MD Advisory Committee on the Medical Uses of Isotopes June 25, 2009 NCRP Report 160: Ionizing Radiation Exposure of Population 2006 • Compared to the National Council on Radiation Protection and Measurements (NCRP) Report 100 in 1980/82 – about 1.7 times increase • On average, 50% ubiquitous background, 48% medical diagnostics • Medical diagnostic (about 3 millisievert) increased 5-6 times from 1980/82 • Increase appears due to increased care utilization of Computed Tomography (CT) scanning and diagnostic nuclear medicine 4 NCRP Report 160: Ionizing Radiation Exposure of Population 2006 • Attributed average exposure does not account for the fact that diagnostics may be correctly and disproportionately performed on the elderly and those with more serious medical problems. • The report does not “attempt to quantify the associated health risks nor specify the actions that should be taken in light of these latest data”. • The report does not include data on the enormous benefit -
Curium U.S. LLC Motion for Order to Show Cause As to Why the License Application Should Not Be Terminated
November 6, 2019 UNITED STATES OF AMERICA NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION BEFORE THE COMMISSION _______________________________________________ In the Matter of ) ) U.S. DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY ) Docket No. 110-06361 ) (Export of 93.35% Enriched Uranium) ) License No. XSNM3810 _______________________________________________ ) MOTION FOR ORDER TO SHOW CAUSE AS TO WHY THE LICENSE APPLICATION SHOULD NOT BE TERMINATED I. INTRODUCTION Due to the United States Department of Energy’s (“DOE” or “Applicant”) intentional decision not to participate in the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (“NRC”) hearing process to defend its above-captioned export license application (“Application”), and the entirely Petitioner1-based record before the Commission showing a number of legal and factual deficiencies in the Application, Curium U.S. LLC (“Curium”) respectfully requests that the Commission issue an order for DOE to show cause as to why its Application should not be terminated, or in the alternative, admit the unopposed petitions to intervene in this proceeding. While Curium believes that a hearing remains the best forum to address the significant questions raised by the Application, the NRC must also consider whether DOE’s unwillingness to engage in the hearing process—a process that it is not exempt from under the Atomic Energy Act—and respond to the questions of law and fact raised by the Petitioners, throws into doubt DOE’s willingness to substantively support the Application and the NRC’s ability to grant the Application based on the one-sided record before the agency in this proceeding. 1 Curium, Nuclear Threat Initiative, NorthStar Medical Radioisotopes, LLC (“NorthStar”), and Dr. Alan J. Kuperman are each a “Petitioner” and together comprise the “Petitioners.” 1 II. -
Highly Enriched Uranium (HEU) Is Defined As Uranium That Has Been Enriched to 20 Percent Or Greater in the Uranium-235 Isotope
- DRAFT U.S. DEPARTMENTOF ENERGY NATIONALNUCLEAR SECURITY ADMINISTRATION OFFICEOF THE DEPUTYADMINISTRATOR FOR DEFENSEPROGRAMS OFFICIAL USE ONLY - DRAFT - DRAFT U.S. DEPARTMENTOF ENERGY NATIONALNUCLEAR SECURITY ADMINISTRATION OFFICEOF THE DEPUTYADMINISTRATOR FOR DEFENSEPROGRAMS JANUARY200 1 - DRAFT - DRAFT Highly enriched uranium (HEU) is defined as uranium that has been enriched to 20 percent or greater in the uranium-235 isotope. All HEU is considered to be weapons-usable. HEU comes in different forms, including metals, oxides, solutions, reactor fuel, and irradiated spent nuclear fuel. Pictured above is a metal disk or "button" of HEU. - DRAFT - DRAFT .TABLE OF CONTENTS YL..*--~-*..~~.. -- - &*. +"-. w-~P~zF~zr~--~-"?wa~..=-&..m~w-=..L " EXECUTIVESUMMARY ...................................................................................... 1 BACKGROUND.................................................................................................................. 1 U.S. HEU INVENTORY...................................................................................................... 2 MATERIALBALANCE .......................................................................................................... 3 NEWLYDECLASSIFIED INFORMATION ........................................................................................ 3 CORRECTIONSTO PREVIOUSLY RELEASED DATA ........................................................................ 3 SECTION2 = URANIUMPRODUCTION AND UTILIZATION........................................... 21 OVERVIEWOF