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Reactor Physics
The division's objectives are to promote the advancement of knowledge and understanding of the fundamental physical phenomena characterizing nuclear reactors and other nuclear systems. The division encourages research and disseminates information through meetings and publications. Areas of technical interest include nuclear data, particle interactions and transport, reactor and nuclear systems analysis, methods, design, validation and operating experience and standards. The Wigner Award heads the awards program.
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2024 ANS Annual Conference
June 16–19, 2024
Las Vegas, NV|Mandalay Bay Resort and Casino
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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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Fusion Science and Technology
Latest News
Zap Energy hits 37-million-degree electron temperatures in compact fusion device
Zap Energy announced April 23 that it has reached 1-3 keV plasma electron temperatures—roughly the equivalent of 11 to 37 million degrees Celsius—using its sheared-flow-stabilized Z-pinch approach to fusion. Reaching temperatures above that of the sun’s core (which is 10 million degrees Celsius temperature) is just one hurdle required before any fusion confinement concept can realistically pursue net gain and fusion energy.
A. Serikov, U. Fischer, L. Mercatali, P. Baeten, G. Vittiglio
Nuclear Technology | Volume 168 | Number 3 | December 2009 | Pages 877-887
Shielding | Special Issue on the 11th International Conference on Radiation Shielding and the 15th Topical Meeting of the Radiation Protection and Shielding Division (PART 3) / Radiation Protection | doi.org/10.13182/NT09-A9322
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
The VENUS-F facility of the GUINEVERE project must satisfy the nuclear safety criteria required by the licensing regulations of the Belgian authority. For this reason, radiation shielding analyses were performed at Forschungszentrum Karlsruhe (FZK) in the course of nuclear safety assessments in support of the GUINEVERE project. The Monte Carlo (MC) MCNP5 model was developed in accordance with the current design of the VENUS-F fast lead reactor. The reactor was assumed to operate on 500-W fission power, which is called zero power, with accelerator-driven system (ADS)-related experimental aims. The MC variance reduction techniques, such as particle splitting, Russian roulette, weight windows, and point detectors, were applied. To speed up the MCNP calculations, the advantages of message-passing interface parallel computations on FZK's CampusGrid Linux Cluster were employed. The MCNP track-length estimations, point detectors, and the mesh tally superimposed over the GUINVERE geometry were used in dose rate calculations. The neutron and photon maps of dose equivalent rate were produced in places of possible personnel access inside the reactor control room and on the accelerator room's floor. To obtain the dose equivalent, the neutron and photon fluences were converted by means of ICRP-77 and ANSI/ANS-6.1.1-1977 conversion factors, respectively. The contributions of the D-D and D-T fusion neutron sources to the dose rate fields were estimated. Activation analyses of the lead core and building materials were performed by the FISPACT-2005 inventory code with the EAF-2005 library to manage the radioactive materials after the series of ADS experiments in the GUINEVERE project. The activity density and shutdown contact dose rate have been calculated. The effect of the impurities in lead on its radioactivity after the VENUS-F campaign was examined.