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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.
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2021 Student Conference
April 8–10, 2021
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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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NC State celebrates 70 years of nuclear engineering education
An early picture of the research reactor building on the North Carolina State University campus. The Department of Nuclear Engineering is celebrating the 70th anniversary of its nuclear engineering curriculum in 2020–2021. Photo: North Carolina State University
The Department of Nuclear Engineering at North Carolina State University has spent the 2020–2021 academic year celebrating the 70th anniversary of its becoming the first U.S. university to establish a nuclear engineering curriculum. It started in 1950, when Clifford Beck, then of Oak Ridge, Tenn., obtained support from NC State’s dean of engineering, Harold Lampe, to build the nation’s first university nuclear reactor and, in conjunction, establish an educational curriculum dedicated to nuclear engineering.
The department, host to the 2021 ANS Virtual Student Conference, scheduled for April 8–10, now features 23 tenure/tenure-track faculty and three research faculty members. “What a journey for the first nuclear engineering curriculum in the nation,” said Kostadin Ivanov, professor and department head.
Tome Kosteski, Nazir P. Kherani, Walter T. Shmayda, Stefan Costea, Stefan Zukotynski
Fusion Science and Technology | Volume 48 | Number 1 | July-August 2005 | Pages 700-703
Technical Paper | Tritium Science and Technology - Properties, Reactions, and Applications | dx.doi.org/10.13182/FST05-A1020
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
p-i-n junction nuclear devices have been made using tritiated amorphous silicon in the intrinsic region. In this unique device, tritium passivates defects and at the same time is an internal source of beta particles. The beta particles traverse the i-layer and through impact ionization, electron-hole pairs are generated. These charges are separated by the built-in field of the p-i-n junction and electrical power is generated. The power from the devices is about 0.2 nW cm-2 in a device of 400 nm thickness. The decay of tritium leads to the formation of dangling bonds and strain related defects in the silicon lattice. These defects lead to a decrease in the effective width of the space charge region and thereby to an increase in the recombination rate of carriers. As a consequence the electric power decreases with time. To overcome this degradation in performance, delta layered devices were made by selectively introducing tritium into the intrinsic region by modulating the tritium gas fraction during film deposition. The electric power from devices with a delta layer have better stability.