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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.
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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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Fusion Science and Technology
Latest News
Securing the advanced reactor fleet
Physical protection accounts for a significant portion of a nuclear power plant’s operational costs. As the U.S. moves toward smaller and safer advanced reactors, similar protection strategies could prove cost prohibitive. For tomorrow’s small modular reactors and microreactors, security costs must remain appropriate to the size of the reactor for economical operation.
Thomas V. Prevenslik
Fusion Science and Technology | Volume 36 | Number 3 | November 1999 | Pages 309-314
Technical Paper | doi.org/10.13182/FST99-A111
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
Sonoluminescence (SL) observed in the collapse of bubbles in liquid H2O may be explained by the Planck theory of SL, which finds basis in quantum mechanics and relies on the bubble walls to be blackbody surfaces as originally envisioned by Planck. By this theory, the source of SL is the electromagnetic (EM) radiation field of the bubble wall described by the absorption (and emission) spectra of liquid H2O from ultraviolet (UV) at ~254 nm to soft X rays. During bubble collapse, the resonant frequency of the bubble cavity always increases. If the resonant frequency coincides with the EM radiation field, cavity quantum electrodynamics (QED) induces EM radiation at that frequency to be emitted from the bubble wall. Subsequently, the emitted EM radiation is absorbed. But cavity QED inhibits the spontaneous emission of any EM radiation absorbed at a frequency lower than the current bubble resonant frequency. Instead, the absorbed EM radiation may accumulate to be released as SL photons or it may be converted to free electrons either directly by the photoelectric effect or indirectly by the microwaves generated as the bubble collapses. By any combination of these processes, the collective EM radiation in the bubble wall is effectively focused on the gases within the bubble in the manner of a variable frequency UV to soft X-ray laser. A limited number of deuterium-deuterium (D-D) fusion events is suggested for ambient temperatures near the freezing point. Planck energies in excess of 10 keV/D2O vapor molecule are found as the D's in the low-density plasma are forced together under bubble wall collision pressures of ~200 atm. For a 20-kHz acoustic drive frequency, the thermal heating is of the order of a few microwatts, but neutrons should be detectable.