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Reactor Physics
The division's objectives are to promote the advancement of knowledge and understanding of the fundamental physical phenomena characterizing nuclear reactors and other nuclear systems. The division encourages research and disseminates information through meetings and publications. Areas of technical interest include nuclear data, particle interactions and transport, reactor and nuclear systems analysis, methods, design, validation and operating experience and standards. The Wigner Award heads the awards program.
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2024 ANS Annual Conference
June 16–19, 2024
Las Vegas, NV|Mandalay Bay Resort and Casino
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Proving DRACO will deliver
The United States is now closer than it has been in over five decades to launching the first nuclear thermal rocket into space, thanks to DRACO—the Demonstration Rocket for Agile Cislunar Orbit.
J. J. MacFarlane, P. Wang, G. A. Moses
Fusion Science and Technology | Volume 19 | Number 3 | May 1991 | Pages 703-708
Inertial Fusion | doi.org/10.13182/FST91-A29427
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
We present results from radiation transport calculations for plasma conditions that are expected for the buffer gases of high-gain inertial confinement fusion (ICF) target chambers. In our calculations, the plasmas are not assumed to be in local thermodynamic equilibrium (LTE). The state of the plasmas is obtained by solving multilevel atomic rate equations self-consistently with the radiation field. Radiation is transported using an escape probability model. Atomic physics data is generated using a combination of Hartree-Fock, distorted wave, and semi-classical impact parameter models. Our results show that the self-attenuation of line radiation results in a significant reduction in the radiation flux at the target chamber first wall. We compare our results with those from other calculations and find that the heat fluxes at the first wall are significantly lower than previously predicted by multigroup radiation diffusion models. The lower heat fluxes suggest that thermal conduction within the first wall can act to keep temperatures near the surface of the wall much lower than previously thought, thus reducing problems associated with thermal stresses and vaporization. We discuss the ramifications of our results for the SIRIUS-T ICF reactor.