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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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Fusion Science and Technology
Latest News
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.
G.L. Kulcinski, G.A. Emmert, J.P. Blanchard, L.A. El-Guebaly, H.Y. Khater, C.W. Maynard, E.A. Mogahed, J.F. Santarius, M.E. Sawan, I.N. Sviatoslavsky, L.J. Wittenberg
Fusion Science and Technology | Volume 19 | Number 3 | May 1991 | Pages 791-801
Advanced Reactor | doi.org/10.13182/FST91-A29441
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
The design of a 1000 MWe D-He3 tokamak fusion power plant, Apollo-L3, is presented. The reactor operates in the first plasma stability regime and relies on both direct and thermal conversion of the thermonuclear energy to electricity. The synchrotron energy is converted directly to electricity via rectennas at 80% efficiency and the thermal energy is converted through an organic coolant at 44% efficiency. It is designed with a low neutron wall loading (0.1 MW/m2) which allow a permanent first wall to be used. The overall net efficiency is 47%. A low level of induced radioactivity and the low afterheat in the reactor allows the low activation ferritic steel waste to be treated as Class A and the system to be considered as a Level 1 (Inherently Safe) device. The cost of electricity (COE) is 69 mills/kWh making it competitive with recent advanced DT reactor designs.
