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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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Latest News
Congress receives NRC report on unusual events
The Nuclear Regulatory Commission has published its annual report to Congress for fiscal year 2023 on abnormal occurrences involving medical and industrial uses of radioactive material.
The report, which was announced by the NRC on May 3, is available on the NRC website.
Brent J. Lewis, Fernando C. Iglesias, C. E. Laurence Hunt, David S. Cox
Nuclear Technology | Volume 99 | Number 3 | September 1992 | Pages 330-342
Technical Paper | Nuclear Reactor Safety | doi.org/10.13182/NT92-A34717
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
An analytical model has been developed to describe the kinetic release behavior of the volatile fission product species (e.g., cesium) from uranium dioxide fuel. This treatment is based on the analysis of a series of out-of-pile annealing tests with bare fuel specimens, at temperatures of 1200 to 1800°C, performed under a wide range of atmospheric conditions that are characteristic of a severe reactor accident. The physically based model accounts for the changing fuel stoichiometry. A more general framework is therefore provided to detail the release kinetics in reducing and oxidizing environments. Solid-state diffusion in the fuel matrix is shown to be the rate-controlling mechanism of release in atmospheres of either hydrogen or argon. On the other hand, in addition to the slower diffusion component, it is demonstrated that a “burst-release” process also occurs in a steam environment, in accordance with first-order rate theory, where fission products are rapidly released at small values of the stoichiometry deviation.