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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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Nuclear Technology
Fusion Science and Technology
Latest News
Fusion Energy Week begins today
Fusion is riding a surge of attention that began in December 2022 when researchers at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory’s National Ignition Facility achieved fusion ignition. The organizers of Fusion Energy Week—a group called the U.S. Fusion Outreach Team—on the other hand, trace fusion development back 100 years to the doctoral research of Cecilia Payne-Gaposchkin, who discovered that stars, including our Sun, are mostly made of hydrogen and helium, which in turn led to the understanding that those elements are the “fuel” of potential fusion energy systems on Earth. In recognition of Payne-Gaposchkin’s birthday—May 10—the U.S. Fusion Outreach Team plans to hold a “grassroots celebration of fusion energy” May 6–10, 2024, and annually during the second week of May.
Kostadin A. Dinov, Kazuo Kasahara
Nuclear Technology | Volume 115 | Number 1 | July 1996 | Pages 81-90
Technical Paper | Material | doi.org/10.13182/NT96-A35277
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
A theoretical approach is discussed that regards the kinetically determined pressurized water reactor (PWR) primary system as a set of thermodynamically defined metastable states that the related high-temperature aqueous system containing a combination of possible oxide phases (NixFe3−xO4, Fe3O4, and metallic nickel or NiO) and corresponding dissolution products may undergo under specified initial conditions. The study shows that stability zones of those metastable states, particularly M1 (NixFe3−xO4) and M3 [Ni(m) + NixFe3−xO4], cover practically the entire PWR operational range and depend on specific plant conditions and applied chemistry control. The thermodynamic analysis is predicated on the belief that defining the stability transition boundary between those states — found as a function of temperature, coolant pH, dissolved hydrogen (DH), and ferrite stoichiometry (x value) — is of primary importance for corrosion product behavior. Such a stability change influences both the particulate and ionic levels and the related activity transport and should be regarded as an important factor in optimizing PWR primary chemistry. The study offers an original approach to reassessing such important issues as thermodynamic data and the solubility of spinel oxides, the role of transport of particulates and soluble species, “optimum” pH and DH, and the chemistry effect on crud burst.