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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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Proving DRACO will deliver
The United States is now closer than it has been in over five decades to launching the first nuclear thermal rocket into space, thanks to DRACO—the Demonstration Rocket for Agile Cislunar Orbit.
David D. B. van Bragt, Tim H. J. J. van der Hagen
Nuclear Technology | Volume 121 | Number 1 | January 1998 | Pages 40-51
Technical Paper | Reactor Safety | doi.org/10.13182/NT98-A2817
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
A theoretical model describing coupled neutronic-thermohydraulic power oscillations in natural circulation boiling water reactors (BWRs) is developed. The governing equations for the thermohydraulic subsystem are transformed to a dimensionless basis, to eliminate all explicit pressure dependence in the model. It is proved that all necessary information about the operating conditions is incorporated in only two dimensionless numbers: the Zuber and the subcooling number. The density ratio number cancels in the dimensionless equations because a homogeneous flow model is applied. The Froude number is also shown to be redundant in a natural circulation system, as it can be expressed in the other dimensionless groups.The stability boundary of the complete coupled neutronic-thermohydraulic reactor system in the dimensionless Zuber-subcooling plane is estimated to be rather insensitive to the system pressure as well. Therefore the usage of dimensionless stability maps, instead of the traditional power-flow maps, is strongly recommended as an efficient method to determine the dynamic characteristics of natural circulation BWRs.