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Current Issues: Doe's Nuclear Energy Programs, Peter Lyons

NSTec UNLV Symposium

• Secretary Moniz on Nuclear Energy
• Secretary Moniz Announces $6.5 Billion Vogtle Loan Guarantee
• Role of U.S. Department of Energy for Sustainable and Innovative Nuclear Energy
• Overview
• Why is the U.S. Government Interested in Supporting SMR Technologies?
• DOE Program to Support SMR Design Certification & Licensing
• Status of SMR Licensing Technical Support Program
• Blue Ribbon Commission Recommendations
• Administration Strategy for Used Fuel Management
• Congressional Activity
• Uranium Extraction from Seawater
• Supercritical CO₂ Energy Conversion
• HUBS AND NEAMS – PARTNERSHIP AND COMPLEMENTARITY
• Nuclear Energy Enabling Technologies Nuclear Energy Advanced Modeling & Simulation (NEAMS)
• NE Modeling and Simulation Energy Innovation Hub Highlights
• Nuclear …

Development Of Ion Beam Nuclear Transmutation Doping (Ibntd) For Novel Electronics In Extreme Conditions, Michael G. Pravica, Noel A. Guardala, Jack L. Price

NSTec UNLV Symposium

Development of IBNTD for electronics under extreme conditions.

•We hope to create novel wide bandgap devices using Ion Beam Nuclear Transmutation Doping (IBNTD). These devices may be used as rugged high power switches, and high current/low noise amplifiers. Diamond in itself represents a “Holy Grail” for electrical applications due to its very high thermal conductivity and excellent electrical characteristics.
•We also hope to develop devices that can convert the enormous energy from high-energy nuclear particles (α2+,β-,β+, γparticles) into useful electricity and thus harness the enormous energy still contained in “spent” nuclear fuel. Developing these direct energy conversion (DEC) devices would …

Overview Of Nstec Plasma Focus Tubes And Magnetohydrodynamic Modeling Capabilities, Tim Meehan

NSTec UNLV Symposium

•Brief Description of how DPFs work, in general what they are useful for.
•DPF devices that we have at NSTec
•Using MHD modeling software to optimize designs and predict performance
•Neutron Resonance Spectroscopy

National Center For Nuclear Security, Veraun Chipman, Amanda Klingensmith, Cathy Snelson

NSTec UNLV Symposium

National Center for Nuclear Security (NCNS) Mission

•Chartered mission is to enhance the Nation’s verification and detection capabilities in support of nuclear arms control and nonproliferation through R&D activities at the NNSS
•Three focus areas
–Treaty Verification Technologies
–Nonproliferation Technologies
–Technical Nuclear Forensics

Structure Studies On Lanthanide Technetium Pyrochlores As Prospective Host Phases To Immobilize 99- Technetium And Fission Lanthanides From Effluents Of Reprocessed Used Nuclear Fuels, Thomas Hartmann, Ariana Alaniz

Festival of Communities: UG Symposium (Posters)

We performed a systematic investigation of the incorporation of 99Tc into pyrochlore oxide structures, Ln2Tc2O7, where Ln represents trivalent lanthanide Ln3+ cations, while 99Tc is atetravalent, Tc4+, metal cation. Pyrochlore compounds are high-melting temperature oxides and are recognized for their durability. Our goal in this preliminary study is to characterize and quantify the range of stability of the lanthanum technetium pyrochlore oxide phase. Hereby, powder X-ray diffraction (XRD) and Rietveld analysis were used to determine and characterize the crystalline phase content with high accuracy, and scanning electron microscopy (SEM) was used to characterize the microstructure and homogeneity of the synthesized …

Oral Presentation: Next Generation Nuclear Fuels, Douglas Hanks

Festival of Communities: UG Symposium (Posters)

Zirconium carbide has been proposed as a coating layer for next generation (“TRISO”) nuclear fuel, and is intended as a diffusion barrier to contain fission products (e.g., Pd). To study the chemical interaction between Pd and ZrC, their interface was investigated using X-ray Photoelectron Spectroscopy (XPS). Pd was step-wise deposited onto ZrC in ultra-high vacuum, and the chemical interaction at the interface was monitored, also as a function of temperature (up to 1000 C). In the presentation, details of the chemical interaction and changes in the chemical environment of Pd and their relevance for TRISO fuel will be discussed.

Spatially Resolved Optical Absorption Spectrometry And Single Crystal Diffraction On Metamict Materials, Alison Savage, Oliver Tschauner, Sergey Tkachev

Undergraduate Research Opportunities Program (UROP)

A major goal in developing storage medium for radioactive waste is the identification of chemically suitable and durable material for storage in repositories (Lumpkin 2006). Radiation damage induces enhanced chemical diffusion and structural breakdown of the host materials, which can lead to contamination of the surrounding environment. During this project four different naturally occurring materials which are common carriers of thorium and uranium were examined : gadolinite, perrierite, allanite, and pyrochlore of which the first three are silicates and pyrochlore being an oxide. Their spectra and absorptions bands were examined to identify prominent features due to radiation damage. The goal …

Nuclear Energy, Steve Kraft

Native American Forum on Nuclear Issues

Abstract:

-Why Nuclear Energy?

-The lesson of the last 20 years in U.S. electricity policy:

– Diversified fuel and technology portfolio is essential

– All fuels and technologies (nuclear, coal, natural gas, renewables, efficiency) have a legitimate role

-The challenge for the future:

– Preserving/restoring diversified portfolio

– Ensuring resource adequacy, particularly in competitive markets

-Expanded use of nuclear energy is part of the answer

– Integrated used fuel management supports nuclear competitiveness

Session 11 - Radioactive Dispersion Devices (Rdd): What Are The Odds?, Dennis Bechtel

International Symposium on Technology and Society

Since the tragic events of September 11th, 2001 there has been apprehension that the United States may be ill-prepared to prevent future terrorist events. One source of concern is that a Radioactive Dispersion Device (RDD) could be detonated at a vulnerable target anywhere in the nation. A RDD, also known as a “dirty bomb, is a conventional explosive packed with radioactive material. The explosion could disperse radioactive material over a wide area. The target could be an icon associated with American democracy and government, critical systems and infrastructure, a water supply, a nuclear power plant and others. Such an event …

Session 1 - Cold War Technoscience In Nevada: The Nevada Test Site Oral History Project, Mary Palevsky

International Symposium on Technology and Society

During the Cold War, the United States conducted over 1000 nuclear weapons tests. Of those, 928 took place at the Nevada Test Site (NTS). One hundred tests were in the atmosphere and 921 underground at the 1375 square mile site located 65 north of Las Vegas. Nevada Test Site Oral History Project (NTSOHP) researchers have conducted over 300 hours of interviews with individuals affiliated with and impacted by the NTS, documenting the diversity of experience among many communities of voices including: weapons scientists, test site officials, laborers, contractors and support personnel, the military, American Indians, communities downwind of the NTS, …

Session 1 - Rationalizing The Home Front: The Cold War, The Nevada Test Site, And Radiation Exposure, Leisl A. Carr

International Symposium on Technology and Society

Beginning in 1953, radiation exposure and its effects became a hotly contested issue between the government, members of communities surrounding the Nevada Test Site (NTS), and researchers within the national scientific community. The Atomic Energy Commission (AEC), concerned about maintaining a continental testing facility and aware that atomic testing would impact communities surrounding the NTS, sent representatives to areas potentially affected by fallout to instruct and reassure the affected public. How government officials perceived neighboring communities and how these communities perceived these representatives of the government often determined public responses to the atomic testing program. The story of radiation monitors …