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Division Spotlight
Operations & Power
Members focus on the dissemination of knowledge and information in the area of power reactors with particular application to the production of electric power and process heat. The division sponsors meetings on the coverage of applied nuclear science and engineering as related to power plants, non-power reactors, and other nuclear facilities. It encourages and assists with the dissemination of knowledge pertinent to the safe and efficient operation of nuclear facilities through professional staff development, information exchange, and supporting the generation of viable solutions to current issues.
Meeting Spotlight
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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Nuclear Technology
Fusion Science and Technology
February 2024
Latest News
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?
L. EL-Guebaly, L. Mynsberge, ARIES-ACT Team
Fusion Science and Technology | Volume 67 | Number 1 | January 2015 | Pages 107-124
Technical Paper | doi.org/10.13182/FST14-791
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
The integration of nuclear assessment (neutronics, shielding, and activation) is an essential element to the success of any fusion design and represents a major issue for power plant studies in particular. High fidelity in nuclear results mandates performing state-of-the-art nuclear analyses. This has been achieved in recent years through coupling the computer-aided-design system directly with three-dimensional neutronics codes to preserve all geometrically complex design elements and speed up feedback and iterations. This paper outlines several major nuclear issues addressed for the recently completed ARIES-ACT1 tokamak conceptual power plant study. An integral nuclear approach was deemed necessary to deliver an optimal design. This approach considered the overall configuration, design requirements (including tritium self-sufficiency), smart selection of low-activation material for all components, radial build optimization and definition, and safety and environmental concerns. This paper reports the main results of this integral approach that aims at considering several effects that influence the global behavior of a complex power plant such as ARIES-ACT1.