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
Materials Science & Technology
The objectives of MSTD are: promote the advancement of materials science in Nuclear Science Technology; support the multidisciplines which constitute it; encourage research by providing a forum for the presentation, exchange, and documentation of relevant information; promote the interaction and communication among its members; and recognize and reward its members for significant contributions to the field of materials science in nuclear technology.
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.
Bahman Zohuri, Patrick J. McDaniel, Cassiano R. R. De Oliveira
Nuclear Technology | Volume 192 | Number 1 | October 2015 | Pages 48-60
Technical Paper | Thermal Hydraulics | doi.org/10.13182/NT14-42
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
Nuclear heated open air-Brayton cycles have been investigated both as topping cycles for combined cycle Brayton-Rankine cycles and as standalone recuperated Brayton cycles. The peak turbine inlet temperature chosen for the analysis was 933 K for a range of Generation IV molten salt reactors or lead cooled reactors. A baseline power level of 25 MW(electric) was chosen to be representative of some of the small modular reactor concepts being considered. Extensions to higher temperatures and power levels were evaluated. Thermal efficiencies in the 45% to 46% range can be achieved by both the combined cycle systems and the recuperated systems, though the combined cycle systems achieve about a 1% to 1.5% improvement over the recuperated systems.
The nuclear heated open air-Brayton systems have several advantages over current light water reactor and other Generation IV systems. The analysis demonstrates that the cycle thermal efficiencies are higher than other proposed systems. The gas turbine hardware is readily available over a broad range of power levels. And both the combined cycle and recuperated systems require significantly less circulating water for waste heat rejection than any other proposed systems.