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Division Spotlight
Nuclear Installations Safety
Devoted specifically to the safety of nuclear installations and the health and safety of the public, this division seeks a better understanding of the role of safety in the design, construction and operation of nuclear installation facilities. The division also promotes engineering and scientific technology advancement associated with the safety of such facilities.
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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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Latest News
Commercial nuclear innovation "new space" age
In early 2006, a start-up company launched a small rocket from a tiny island in the Pacific. It exploded, showering the island with debris. A year later, a second launch attempt sent a rocket to space but failed to make orbit, burning up in the atmosphere. Another year brought a third attempt—and a third failure. The following month, in September 2008, the company used the last of its funds to launch a fourth rocket. It reached orbit, making history as the first privately funded liquid-fueled rocket to do so.
Karl H. Puechl
Nuclear Science and Engineering | Volume 12 | Number 2 | February 1962 | Pages 135-150
Technical Paper | doi.org/10.13182/NSE62-A26051
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
The potential of plutonium as a fuel in near-thermal converter reactors is investigated. Over certain ranges of fuel loading and/or moderation, it is shown that the effective absorption cross section (averaged over the entire neutron spectrum) of Pu240 decreases with fuel burnup; i.e., decreases with the associated softening of the neutron spectrum. The plutonium, therefore, behaves as a self-stabilizing or self-compensating fuel with the decrease in Pu240 cross section balancing fissionable material burnup and fission product build-up. Thereby long core lives are attainable with nominal shim control requirements. The strong neutron temperature dependence of the effective Pu240 absorption cross section also results in a highly negative temperature coefficient of reactivity and thereby in the feasibility of spectral shift shim control. Economics evaluation indicates that fuel cycle costs of between 1.5 and 2.5 mills/kw-hr may be attainable with these plutonium fueled systems.
