ANS is committed to advancing, fostering, and promoting the development and application of nuclear sciences and technologies to benefit society.
Explore the many uses for nuclear science and its impact on energy, the environment, healthcare, food, and more.
Division Spotlight
Robotics & Remote Systems
The Mission of the Robotics and Remote Systems Division is to promote the development and application of immersive simulation, robotics, and remote systems for hazardous environments for the purpose of reducing hazardous exposure to individuals, reducing environmental hazards and reducing the cost of performing work.
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!
Latest Magazine Issues
May 2024
Jan 2024
Latest Journal Issues
Nuclear Science and Engineering
June 2024
Nuclear Technology
Fusion Science and Technology
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.
Yao Xiao, Lin-Wen Hu, Charles Forsberg, Suizheng Qiu, Guanghui Su, Kun Chen, Naxiu Wang
Nuclear Technology | Volume 187 | Number 3 | September 2014 | Pages 221-234
Technical Paper | Fission Reactors | doi.org/10.13182/NT13-93
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
The fluoride salt–cooled high-temperature reactor (FHR) is an advanced reactor concept, which uses high-temperature TRISO fuel with a low-pressure liquid salt coolant. The design of a fluoride salt–cooled high-temperature test reactor (FHTR) is a key step in the development of the FHR technology and is currently in progress in both China and the United States. An FHTR based on a pebble bed core design with coolant temperature 600°C to 700°C is being planned for construction by the Chinese Academy of Sciences’ Thorium Molten Salt Reactor Research Center, Shanghai Institute of Applied Physics (SINAP). This paper provides a preliminary thermal-hydraulic licensing analysis of an FHTR using SINAP’s pebble core design as a reference case. The operation limits based on criteria outlined in U.S. regulatory guidelines are evaluated. Limiting safety system settings (LSSSs) considering uncertainties for forced convection and natural convection are obtained. The LSSS power and coolant outlet temperature, respectively, are 24.83 MW and 720°C for forced convection and 1.19 MW and 720°C for natural convection. The maximum temperature for the structural materials of 730°C is the most limiting constraint of the FHTR design.