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Division Spotlight
Thermal Hydraulics
The division provides a forum for focused technical dialogue on thermal hydraulic technology in the nuclear industry. Specifically, this will include heat transfer and fluid mechanics involved in the utilization of nuclear energy. It is intended to attract the highest quality of theoretical and experimental work to ANS, including research on basic phenomena and application to nuclear system design.
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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May 2024
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Nuclear Science and Engineering
June 2024
Nuclear Technology
Fusion Science and Technology
Latest News
How robust is HALEU from a nonproliferation perspective?
Shikha Prasad
High-assay low-enriched uranium (HALEU) has emerged as a popular fuel choice for advanced small modular reactors due to its long power production periods before refueling. It is currently being pursued by TerraPower, X-energy, BWX Technologies, Kairos, Oklo, and other reactor companies. HALEU has a uranium-235 enrichment ranging from 5 percent to 20 percent, whereas traditional LWRs use low-enriched uranium fuel enriched up to 5 percent.
HALEU will provide power for longer durations, compared with traditional LWRs. But could it also provide an opportunity for more rapid proliferation, as is speculated in a 2023 National Academy of Sciences report on advanced nuclear reactors (nap.nationalacademies.org/catalog/26630/)?
If a nuclear proliferator conspires to divert fresh nuclear fuel for weapons production when it has not been used in a reactor, the effort required in separative work units (SWUs) to enrich U-235 from 5 percent to 90 percent and that required to enrich from 20 percent to 90 percent are both very small, compared with the effort required to enrich U-235 from its natural abundance to the initial 5 percent.
Technical Session|Reactor Design and Analysis
Monday, April 22, 2024|1:30–3:15PM PDT|Franciscan A
Session Chair:
Ben Lindley
Alternate Chair:
Yves Robert (ORNL)
Session Organizer:
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Voronoï Mesh for a Thermally Coupled Model of Pebble Bed Reactor
1:30–1:50PM PDT
Ludovic Jantzen (Univ. California, Berkeley), Yves Robert (ORNL), Massimiliano Fratoni (Univ. California, Berkeley)
Paper
Deterministic High-Fidelity Neutronics Simulation of Pebble Bed Reactors with Pebble Tracking Transport
1:50–2:10PM PDT
Liam Carlson (TAMU), Jean Ragusa (TAMU), Paolo Balestra (INL), Yaqi Wang (INL)
Sensitivity of Thermo-Physical Salt Property Changes on Reactor Equilibrium for Salt-Cooled Pebble Bed Reactors
2:10–2:30PM PDT
Ludovic Jantzen (Univ. California, Berkeley), Mauricio E. Tano (INL), Massimiliano Fratoni (Univ. California, Berkeley)
Impact of Cooldown on Pebble Fuel Burnup Prediction Using Machine Learning
2:30–2:50PM PDT
Jason Hou (NCSU), Nick Rollins (NCSU)
Assessment of Worth of Telescopic Control Rods in a Pebble Bed Reactor Model
2:50–3:10PM PDT
Ethan P. Fowler (Univ. Wisconsin, Madison), Gabriel Paramucchio (Univ. Wisconsin, Madison), Adrien Couet (Univ. Wisconsin, Madison), Peter Wilkinson (Unaffiliated), Ben Lindley (Univ. Wisconsin, Madison)
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