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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.
Meeting Spotlight
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
Feds, state agree on deadlines for treating Hanford’s tank waste
The U.S. Department of Energy, Washington State Department of Ecology, and U.S. Environmental Protection Agency have reached an agreement on revised plans for managing millions of gallons of radioactive and chemical liquid waste stored in 177 underground tanks at the Hanford Site near Richland, Wash.
David Halabuk, Tomas Navrat
Nuclear Science and Engineering | Volume 189 | Number 1 | January 2018 | Pages 69-81
Technical Paper | doi.org/10.1080/00295639.2017.1373518
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
This paper presents a thermomechanical assessment of various types of fuel cladding during a reactivity-initiated accident (RIA) which is simulated by the finite element analysis program ANSYS. Four cladding concepts are analyzed; one concept considers currently used zirconium alloy and three concepts consider silicon carbide (SiC) material. The SiC claddings consist either of composite material or of a two-layered structure formed of SiC composite and monolithic SiC. Each cladding is analyzed for two states of nuclear fuel: fresh and high burnup. A gap that exists between fuel pellets and cladding in fresh state is either reduced or removed in a high burnup state. It was shown that zirconium cladding resists RIA conditions very well in fresh state, however, in high burnup state significant stress and plastic strain occur. The SiC cladding was shown to have many advantages over zirconium alloy. Nevertheless, its lower strength appears to be critical in RIA conditions when cladding needs to withstand exceeding loading after the fuel-cladding gap disappears due to the expansion of the fuel pellet.