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Division Spotlight
Operations & Power
Members focus on the dissemination of knowledge and information in the area of power reactors with particular application to the production of electric power and process heat. The division sponsors meetings on the coverage of applied nuclear science and engineering as related to power plants, non-power reactors, and other nuclear facilities. It encourages and assists with the dissemination of knowledge pertinent to the safe and efficient operation of nuclear facilities through professional staff development, information exchange, and supporting the generation of viable solutions to current issues.
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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Nuclear Science and Engineering
June 2024
Nuclear Technology
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Latest News
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.
M. M. H. Ragheb, R. T. Santoro, J. M. Barnes, M. J. Saltmarsh
Nuclear Technology | Volume 48 | Number 3 | May 1980 | Pages 216-232
Technical Paper | Reactor | doi.org/10.13182/NT80-A32469
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
The nuclear performance of a fusion-fission hybrid reactor having a molten salt composed of Na-Th-F-Be as the blanket fertile material and operating with a catalyzed deuterium-deuterium (DD) plasma is compared to a similar system utilizing a Li-Th-F-Be salt and operating with a deuterium-tritium (DT) plasma. The production of fissile fuel via the 232Th-233U fuel cycle was considered on the basis of its potential nonproliferation aspects. The calculations were performed using one-dimensional discrete-ordinates methods to compare neutron balances, fuel production rates, energy deposition rates, and the radiation damage in the reactor structure. The results indicate that the sodium salt in conjunction with the catalyzed DD plasma represents a viable alternative to the lithium salt and DT plasma. In a reactor consisting of a 42-cm-thick salt compartment followed by a 40-cm-thick graphite reflector, the sodium-salt-catalyzed-DD system exhibits a higher fissile nuclide production potential via Th(n,γ) reactions (0.880 reaction/source neutron) than the lithium-salt-DT system (0.737 reaction/source neutron) without the additional complication of tritium production in the blanket. Energy and material balances for driven fusion systems show that the DT and catalyzed DD options have comparable performances in terms of their capability to support fission reactor satellites with their fissile fuel needs.