Special Seminar
"Challenges Facing Emerging Nuclear States:
Jordan as a Case Study"
Dr. Khaled Toukan, Chairman
Jordan Atomic Energy Commission
3pm, Friday June 11, 2010, Room 24-213
Abstract. Forty three countries,
mostly in the developing world, are currently considering nuclear energy as
part of their energy mix. However, many of them have limited industrial
capacity. They face several challenges: high investment cost, security of nuclear fuel supply, development of
appropriate waste management technologies and the absence of regulatory
framework. Jordan presents a clear case for a country working to circumvent
these challenges.
The uncertainty about
energy supplies and their costs are severely affecting the growth of the
country's economy and its security. Jordan imports more than 95 percent of its
energy needs. Hence, the development of secure alternative energy supplies is a
top priority for the Kingdom. Our vision is to transform Jordan from a net energy importer to a
net electricity exporter by 2030. This will require a major shift away from
fossil fuels to low-cost clean power. Nuclear power leverages Jordan's
indigenous uranium resources. The
Kingdom is endowed with rich uranium resources that have not be exploited.
>> Read full abstract and Biographical sketch
Educational Courses – Summer 2010
Nuclear Plant Safety Course
21-25 June 2010
Instructors: M.S. Kazimi and N.E. Todreas
MIT’s longest running summer program has been revamped into an intensive one-week course that focuses on new developments in safety and regulatory issues of operating and planned reactors in the US and abroad. >> read more
Course Syllabus (2010)
Director's Corner
Q&A with journalist from French magazine Science & Air on the development of a new generation of nuclear reactors. >> read more
Recent Publications and Reports
"Fuel & Fuel Cycle - Clad in clay." By Ken Yueh, David Carpenter and Herbert Feinroth. Nuclear Engineering, January 13, 2010.
Since the first commercial water reactor began operating in 1957 at Shippingport, Pennsylvania, zirconium alloys have been used as the primary containment for the nuclear fuel. The performance of this cladding has steadily improved to the point where most plants operate with no fuel failures through
end-of-life, even as burnups approach currently licensed limits (62 GWd/MTU lead rod in the United States) and as operating environments continue to change as plants age. Further improvements in performance and reliability are being pursued worldwide and many expect that zirconium alloy cladding can be reliably used to burnups of 75 GWd/MTU and beyond.
Nevertheless, a new initiative has begun in the United States to develop a ceramic clad to replace zirconium alloys. Such a cladding could enable power uprates higher than those achieved at the highest duty plants today and could significantly reduce or eliminate the consequences of design basis accidents such as a loss-of-coolant accident (LOCA). Additional gains in fuel reliability and much higher fuel burnups are also possible. Read full article >>
CANES paper selected as Best Paper of 2009 by ANS Thermal Hydraulic Division
"Thermal Hydraulics of PWRs Transitioning to High Performance Annular Fuel" (Bo Feng, Julien Beccherle, Pavel Hejzlar, and Mujid S. Kazimi) was presented by Bo Feng at the NUTHOS-7 Conference in May 2009.
Uncertainty and Sensitivity Analysis for Long-Running Computer Codes: A Critical Review (January 2010).
Executive Summary. This report presents a critical review of existing methods for
performing probabilistic uncertainty and sensitivity analysis for complex,
computationally expensive simulation models. In the context of Probabilistic
Risk Assessment (PRA), these models may be used to (i) estimate the reliability
of passive systems in the absence of operational data, (ii) inform Level 1
accident sequence development and event tree structure, (iii) establish Level 1
PRA success criteria, (iv) develop Level 2 PRA event tree structure and split
fraction values, (v) performing Level 3 PRA offsite consequence analysis, and
(vi) provide simulation capacity in dynamic PRA tools. More >
A High Efficiency and Environmentally Friendly Nuclear Reactor (HEER) for Electricity and Hydrogen: Volume 1 (Main Report) and Volume 2 (Appendices) (November 2009).
Economics of Nuclear Fuel Cycles: Option Valuation and Neutronics Simulation of Mixed Oxide Fuels (December 2009).
Thermal Hydraulic Design of a Salt-Cooled Highly Efficient Environmentally Friendly Reactor (August 2009).
Thermal-Hydraulic Analysis of Innovative Fuel Configurations for the Sodium Fast Reactor (August 2009).
Modeling of Thermo-Mechanical and Irradiation Behavior of Metallic and Oxide Fuels for Sodium Fast Reactors (August 2009).
A Review of Geology-Related Aspects of Deep Borehole Disposal of Nuclear Waste (August 2009).
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