September 2021 Technical Dinner Meeting
On Thursday September 30th, 2021 ANS-SR had a hoot with the current ANS National president Steve Nesbit.
Title: Used Nuclear Fuel and High-level Radioactive Waste Management: Past, Present, and Future
Presenter: Steven P. Nesbit 67th President of the American Nuclear Society
Summary: Managing and disposing of used nuclear fuel and high-level radioactive waste has proven to be one of nuclear technology’s thorniest issues. It is generally acknowledged to be a political rather than technical problem, but the U.S. program to address it is at a standstill. Steve Nesbit spent substantial portions of his career involved in various aspects of spent fuel management, and he will discuss the history, status, and current prospects for the issue. He will also summarize ongoing ANS activities in the area.
August 2021 Technical Dinner Meeting
On Thursday, August 26, 2021 5:45 PM at Fat Man’s Café in Augusta Georgia, ANS-SR offered the following mentally-stimulating event!
Title: “A Yankee in the Hapsburg Court”
Presenter: John N. Dewes, International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), Vienna, Austria
Summary: ANS Savannah River is pleased to welcome a favorite son, John Dewes, via Zoom from Vienna to its podium. Previously with Savannah River Site, the Savannah River National Laboratory, and then Idaho National Laboratory, Mr. Dewey now works with the IAEA to support HEU minimization efforts around the world. His work involves repatriation of HEU from various countries, use of LEU for Mo-99 production, and other related topics. John will discuss his ongoing work at the IAEA as well as life as a foreigner in Vienna.
July 2021 ANS-SR Networking BBQ
On Saturday July 31st ANS-SR hosted a social cook out at the picturesque Boyd Pond Park in Aiken. Over 30 members, friends and family came out to brave the heat and enjoy lawn games in the sun. We played corn hole, hillbilly golf, petanque, soccer and more! Major thanks to our Grill Masters Maddy and Graham for keeping us all fed with hamburgers and hotdogs galore.
June 2021 Technical Dinner Meeting
On Thursday June 24th at 6:00 PM in Newberry Hall, Aiken, South Carolina, ANS-SR was thrilled to welcome back members for our first in-person technical dinner meeting in more than a year!
Title: “Atomic-Scale Journey through the Nuclear Fuel Cycle”
Presenter: Professor Lindsay Shuller-Nickles, Clemson University
Summary: In this seminar, we will don our ‘atomic-scale lenses’ for an adventure through the U.S. nuclear fuel cycle. With particular emphasis on nuclear waste forms, we will explore the development of our current inventory of used nuclear materials in the U.S. and consider future changes in the nuclear fuel cycle from a waste management perspective.
May 2021 Technical Meeting
On Friday, May 21, 2021 at 12:00 PM ANS-SR held a virtual technical meeting:
Title: Development of TerraPowers’s Molten Chloride Fast Reactor to Enable Low-Cost, Economy-Wide Decarbonization
Presenter: Dr. Brandon M. Chisholm, R&D Engineer, Southern Company Services
Summary: The Molten Chloride Fast Reactor (MCFR) is an advanced nuclear reactor technology intentionally designed to combine the best aspects of liquid-fueled reactors, fast reactors, and molten salt reactors, resulting in superior performance, safety, and economic benefit. A Southern Company-led team was recently awarded Department of Energy funding to develop and execute a Molten Chloride Reactor Experiment (MCRE) within five years. The MCRE will be the first critical molten salt fast reactor and will prove fundamental technical aspects of MCFR technology while providing key data to support the design and development of the MCFR Demonstration Program. This presentation will provide a discussion of MCFR technology, an overview of the MCFR Demonstration Program, and a breakdown of the current plans for MCRE and how it contributes to the end goal of a commercial MCFR.
A copy of the presentation is available for your consumption, enjoy! SR ANS Brief_distributed
May 2021 ANS-SR TOPGOLF NETWORKING EVENT
On May 2nd, 2021, ANS-SR emerged from our almost year long hiatus of in-person events with an outdoor activity geared towards getting our younger members back out and about! 14 young professionals came out on a Sunday to get back into the “swing” of things and a good time was had by all. Shout out to fresh face Sterling Bash for being our best golfer of the afternoon!
April 2021 SRS Museum
On Friday, April 16, 2021 at 12:00 PM, the Savannah River Section of ANS returned (virtually) to the SRS Museum in Aiken, SC. We heard from SRS Museum Director Lauren Miller and Education Coordinator Derek Berry on many Museum updates including:
- Visiting during Covid-19
- Plans to Establish & Build an Education and Outreach Program
- New Isotope Production Exhibit in the Dibble Gallery
- Other news on Exhibits covering the History of SRS and the Cold War
- How to support the Museum & Ways to Volunteer opportunities.
February 2021 Noble Gas Nuclear Forensics
On Friday, February 19, 2021 at 12:00 PM ANS-SR had the pleasure of learning about Noble Gas Nuclear Forensics
from Dr. Steven Biegalski, Chair of Nuclear and Radiological Engineering and Medical Physics Program at Georgia Institute of Technology.
Since the Partial Test Ban Treaty in 1963, nuclear explosion tests have largely been conducted in underground locations. To monitor the emissions from underground nuclear tests, the world community relies upon atmospheric monitoring for radioxenon among other technologies. The Comprehensive Nuclear Test-Ban Treaty (CTBT) incorporates radioxenon monitoring within International Monitoring System (IMS) with a focus on 131mXe, 133mXe, 133Xe, and 135Xe. It is expected that radioxenon monitoring will also be incorporated into the On-Site Inspection (OSI) protocols along with radioargon monitoring.
This seminar will focus on developments at The University of Texas at Austin that advance the field of noble gas nuclear forensics. Analysis will be shown for both natural and anthropogenic signals and forensic methods for distinguishing between radioxenon sources will be discussed. A forensic assessment of radioxenon emissions from the Fukushima nuclear accident will be presented and results showing the variability induced by underground radionuclide transport will be detailed.
Speaker:
Steven Biegalski is the Chair of Nuclear and Radiological Engineering and Medical Physics Program at Georgia Institute of Technology. Early in his career, Dr. Biegalski was the Director of Radionuclide Operations at the Center for Monitoring Research. In this position Dr. Biegalski led international efforts to develop and implement radionuclide effluent monitoring technologies, supporting both U.S. national capabilities and international treaties. Prior to his current position at Georgia Tech, Dr. Biegalski was at the University of Texas at Austin for 15 years and held the position of Reactor Director for The University of Texas at Austin TRIGA reactor for over a decade. He has published over 200 peer-reviewed articles, three book chapters, and has advised 25 Ph.D. students to graduation.
January 2021 Plant Vogtle Update
Mike McCracken and Joel Leopard of the Vogtle Energy Education Center Staff provided our first 2021 Virtual Lunchtime Zoom on Friday, January 22, 2021. Mike, Joel and their subject matter expert support team gave viewers a thorough update on Vogtle 1&2 operations, Vogtle 3&4 construction status and the preparations for testing & operation. A “virtual” tour was included in the presentation!