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Aerospace Nuclear Science & Technology
Organized to promote the advancement of knowledge in the use of nuclear science and technologies in the aerospace application. Specialized nuclear-based technologies and applications are needed to advance the state-of-the-art in aerospace design, engineering and operations to explore planetary bodies in our solar system and beyond, plus enhance the safety of air travel, especially high speed air travel. Areas of interest will include but are not limited to the creation of nuclear-based power and propulsion systems, multifunctional materials to protect humans and electronic components from atmospheric, space, and nuclear power system radiation, human factor strategies for the safety and reliable operation of nuclear power and propulsion plants by non-specialized personnel and more.
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2024 ANS Annual Conference
June 16–19, 2024
Las Vegas, NV|Mandalay Bay Resort and Casino
Standards Program
The Standards Committee is responsible for the development and maintenance of voluntary consensus standards that address the design, analysis, and operation of components, systems, and facilities related to the application of nuclear science and technology. Find out What’s New, check out the Standards Store, or Get Involved today!
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Can hydrogen be the transportation fuel in an otherwise nuclear economy?
Let’s face it: The global economy should be powered primarily by nuclear power. And it probably will by the end of this century, with a still-significant assist from renewables and hydro. Once nuclear systems are dominant, the costs come down to where gas is now; and when carbon emissions are reduced to a small portion of their present state, it will become obvious that most other sources are only good in niche settings. I mean, why use small modular reactors to load-follow when they can just produce that power instead of buffering it?
Ehud Greenspan, Cynthia E. Annese, Warren F. Miller, Jr., Edward F. Watkins, Michael L. Tobin, Jeffery F. Latkowski, Joseph D. Lee, Pat Soran
Fusion Science and Technology | Volume 27 | Number 4 | July 1995 | Pages 417-451
Technical Paper | Shielding | doi.org/10.13182/FST95-A30362
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
Minimum-cost design concepts of the primary shield for the National (laser fusion) Ignition Facility are sought with the help of the SWAN optimization code. The computational method developed for this search involves incorporating the time dependence of the delayed photon field within effective delayed photon production cross sections. This method enables the time-dependent problem to be addressed using time-independent transport calculations, thus significantly simplifying and accelerating the design process. The search for constituents that will minimize the shield cost is guided by the newly defined equal cost replacement effectiveness functions. The minimum-cost shield design concept consists of a mixture of polyethylene and low-cost, low-activation materials, such as CaCO3 or silicon carbide, with boron added near the shield boundaries. An alternative approach to the target chamber design is analyzed. It involves placing the shield interior, rather than exterior to the main aluminum structural wall of the target chamber. The resulting inner shield design approach was found to be more expensive but inherently safer; the overall inventory of radioactive activation products it contains is one to two orders of magnitude lower than in the conventional design approach.