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Conference Spotlight
2025 ANS Winter Conference & Expo
November 9–12, 2025
Washington, DC|Washington Hilton
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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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Researchers use one-of-a-kind expertise and capabilities to test fuels of tomorrow
At the Idaho National Laboratory Hot Fuel Examination Facility, containment box operator Jake Maupin moves a manipulator arm into position around a pencil-thin nuclear fuel rod. He is preparing for a procedure that he and his colleagues have practiced repeatedly in anticipation of this moment in the hot cell.
Eric V. Steinfelds, James S. Tulenko
Nuclear Technology | Volume 174 | Number 1 | April 2011 | Pages 119-123
Technical Paper | Energy Conversion Systems Using Radioisotopes | doi.org/10.13182/NT11-A11685
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
The paper describes a micronuclear battery that utilizes the conversion of beta particles into photons and back into electrons through a photoelectric cell to potentially deliver a nuclear battery of higher efficiency than other nuclear battery concepts and with much greater energy per gram and lifetime than chemical batteries. The Monte Carlo nuclear code MCNP has been used to analyze the performance of the proposed battery, and the photoelectric stage has been shown to be insensitive to the expected radiation for at least 1 yr of performance.