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Conference Spotlight
2026 ANS Annual Conference
May 31–June 3, 2026
Denver, CO|Sheraton Denver
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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DOE announces awards for three university nuclear education outreach programs
The Department of Energy’s Office of Nuclear Energy has announced more than $590,000 in funding awards to help three universities enhance their outreach in nuclear energy education. The awards, which are part of the DOE Nuclear Energy University Program (NEUP) University Reactor Sharing and Outreach Program, are primarily designed to provide students in K-12, vocational schools, and colleges with access to university research reactors in order to increase awareness of nuclear science, engineering, and technology and to foster early interest in nuclear energy-related careers.
A. Kavetsky, G. Yakubova, M. Sychov, Q. Lin, G. Walter, D. Chan, S. Yousaf, H. Socarras, J. Abrefah, K. Bower
Nuclear Science and Engineering | Volume 159 | Number 3 | July 2008 | Pages 321-329
Technical Paper | doi.org/10.13182/NSE159-321
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
Calculations and measurements are presented for direct capacitor charging from tritiated electrodes, efficiency in converting beta decay energy into electric current, the effect of geometry on charging current, and the dielectric engineering options/trade-offs. Experiments using 1.4 × 1012 Bq (38 Ci) of tritium provided a 148-nA short circuit (charging) current at 5300 V of open circuit voltage, giving 160-W peak electrical power, with 12.5% overall efficiency. Calculations are in good agreement with the measured voltage accumulated over time for the tritium capacitor.