Nuclear Environmental Engineering

The USA is the world’s largest producer of nuclear power with approximately 100 nuclear reactors in operation. Ensuring the operation of these facilities is safe for the public and the environment is inherent in the country’s nuclear power program. AquAeTer’s experts have assisted our clients with a range of services in a variety of aspects of the nuclear life cycle.

The broad experience base of the AquAeTer team extends to highly technical areas including thermal hydraulics using codes RELAP5 and three-dimensional finite element codes such as PATRAN to support brittle fracture analyses.

AquAeTer’s multidisciplinary approach is ideally suited to the unique nature of nuclear environmental engineering projects. All projects pose their own unique set of parameters and challenges. Our team of experts has a varied set of technical expertise and experience which results in creative, effective solutions to nuclear environmental engineering problems.

Case Studies

Non-Rad Wastewater Treatment Conceptual Design

AquAeTer was retained to conduct a study to determine the options available to treat the non-rad wastestream from the Oak Ridge National Laboratory facility in Oak Ridge, Tennessee. The primary concern was meeting water quality limits for metals in the receiving stream. Bench-scale treatability studies were performed to determine the alternatives to meeting low microgram […]

Review of Proposed Rule for Low-Level Radioactive Waste Disposal

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission’s proposed rule was published in the Federal Register on March 26, 2015. Stakeholders were asked to review the proposed rule and provide comments. AquAeTer worked closely with our client to review the proposed rule, as well as, an associated guidance document. AquAeTer drafted detailed comments for presentation to the Nuclear Regulatory […]

Exposure Pathway and Dose Modeling

AquAeTer was retained by its client to perform the dose model analysis for the disposal of a nuclear power generating plant, intact Reactor Vessel, at a Low-Level Radioactive Waste Disposal facility. The analysis examined the expected radiation dose via the groundwater pathway that could result from the land-burial disposal of the Reactor Vessel as a […]