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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
Nuclear Energy Conference & Expo (NECX)
September 8–11, 2025
Atlanta, GA|Atlanta Marriott Marquis
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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Fusion Science and Technology
Latest News
DOE opens pilot program to authorize test reactors outside national labs
Details of the plan to test new reactor concepts under the Department of Energy’s authority but outside national laboratory boundaries—first outlined in one of the four executive orders on nuclear energy released on May 23—were just released in a request for applications issued by the DOE.
A. Zolfaghari, P. Titus, J. Chrzanowski, A. Salehzadeh, F. Dahlgren
Fusion Science and Technology | Volume 60 | Number 2 | August 2011 | Pages 658-663
Alternate Concepts & Magnets | Proceedings of the Nineteenth Topical Meeting on the Technology of Fusion Energy (TOFE) (Part 2) | doi.org/10.13182/FST11-A12459
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
The new ohmic heating (OH) coil and center stack for the National Spherical Torus Experiment (NSTX) upgrade are required to meet cooling and structural requirements for operation at the enhanced 1 Tesla toroidal field and 2 MA plasma current. The OH coil is designed to be cooled in the time between discharges by water flowing in the center of the coil conductor. We performed resistive heating and thermal hydraulic analyses to optimize coolant channel size to keep the coil temperature below 100 C and meet the required 20 minute cooling time. Coupled electromagnetic, thermal and structural FEA analyses were performed to determine if the OH coil meets the requirements of the structural design criteria. Structural response of the OH coil to its self-field and the field from other coils was analyzed. A model was developed to analyze the thermal and electromagnetic interaction of centerstack components such as the OH coil, toroidal field (TF) coil inner legs and the Bellville washer preload mechanism. Torsional loads from the TF interaction with the OH and poloidal fields are transferred through the TF flag extensions via a torque transfer coupling to the rest of the tokamak structure. A 3D FEA analysis was performed to qualify this design. The results of these analyses, which will be presented in this paper, have led to the design of OH coil and centerstack components that meet the requirements of the NSTX-upgrade structural design criteria.