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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
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Glass strategy: Hanford’s enhanced waste glass program
The mission of the Department of Energy’s Office of River Protection (ORP) is to complete the safe cleanup of waste resulting from decades of nuclear weapons development. One of the most technologically challenging responsibilities is the safe disposition of approximately 56 million gallons of radioactive waste historically stored in 177 tanks at the Hanford Site in Washington state.
ORP has a clear incentive to reduce the overall mission duration and cost. One pathway is to develop and deploy innovative technical solutions that can advance baseline flow sheets toward higher efficiency operations while reducing identified risks without compromising safety. Vitrification is the baseline process that will convert both high-level and low-level radioactive waste at Hanford into a stable glass waste form for long-term storage and disposal.
Although vitrification is a mature technology, there are key areas where technology can further reduce operational risks, advance baseline processes to maximize waste throughput, and provide the underpinning to enhance operational flexibility; all steps in reducing mission duration and cost.
I. V. Serov, T. M. John, J. E. Hoogenboom
Nuclear Science and Engineering | Volume 133 | Number 1 | September 1999 | Pages 55-72
Technical Paper | doi.org/10.13182/NSE99-A2072
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
The midway Monte Carlo method for calculating detector responses combines a forward and an adjoint Monte Carlo calculation. In both calculations, particle scores are registered at a surface to be chosen by the user somewhere between the source and detector domains. The theory of the midway response determination is developed within the framework of transport theory for external sources and for criticality theory. The theory is also developed for photons, which are generated at inelastic scattering or capture of neutrons. In either the forward or the adjoint calculation a so-called black absorber technique can be applied; i.e., particles need not be followed after passing the midway surface. The midway Monte Carlo method is implemented in the general-purpose MCNP Monte Carlo code.The midway Monte Carlo method is demonstrated to be very efficient in problems with deep penetration, small source and detector domains, and complicated streaming paths. All the problems considered pose difficult variance reduction challenges. Calculations were performed using existing variance reduction methods of normal MCNP runs and using the midway method. The performed comparative analyses show that the midway method appears to be much more efficient than the standard techniques in an overwhelming majority of cases and can be recommended for use in many difficult variance reduction problems of neutral particle transport.