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The Mission of the Robotics and Remote Systems Division is to promote the development and application of immersive simulation, robotics, and remote systems for hazardous environments for the purpose of reducing hazardous exposure to individuals, reducing environmental hazards and reducing the cost of performing work.
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2025 ANS Annual Conference
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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
High-temperature plumbing and advanced reactors
The use of nuclear fission power and its role in impacting climate change is hotly debated. Fission advocates argue that short-term solutions would involve the rapid deployment of Gen III+ nuclear reactors, like Vogtle-3 and -4, while long-term climate change impact would rely on the creation and implementation of Gen IV reactors, “inherently safe” reactors that use passive laws of physics and chemistry rather than active controls such as valves and pumps to operate safely. While Gen IV reactors vary in many ways, one thing unites nearly all of them: the use of exotic, high-temperature coolants. These fluids, like molten salts and liquid metals, can enable reactor engineers to design much safer nuclear reactors—ultimately because the boiling point of each fluid is extremely high. Fluids that remain liquid over large temperature ranges can provide good heat transfer through many demanding conditions, all with minimal pressurization. Although the most apparent use for these fluids is advanced fission power, they have the potential to be applied to other power generation sources such as fusion, thermal storage, solar, or high-temperature process heat.1–3
P. Y. Li, C. J. Pan, B. L. Hou, S. L. Han, Z. C. Sun, F. Savary, Y. K. Fu, R. Gallix, N. Mitchell
Fusion Science and Technology | Volume 61 | Number 2 | February 2012 | Pages 141-146
Technical Paper | First Joint ITER-IAEA Technical Meeting on Analysis of ITER Materials and Technologies | doi.org/10.13182/FST12-A13380
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
The research and development of manufacture-related technology for ITER magnet supports is one of the tasks for construction. AISI 316LN austenitic stainless steel has been developed and tested as the main raw material. The material shows excellent mechanical properties at room temperature, 77 K, and 4.2 K. An alternative design for the toroidal field support manufacture without welding was carried out. The structural analysis shows no stress concentration and buckling in the present design during ITER operation. However, further engineering tests of the structural stability under various load combinations are also scheduled. A brazed connection to attach the cooling pipes to the support plates is suggested. Several kinds of candidate brazing fillers, such as Sn-Pb-, Ag-, and Cu-based alloys have been developed. The tensile strength of the brazed solders is up to 400 MPa at 77 K for the Ag-based and Cu-based fillers. For correction coil support, the plasma spray insulation coating was developed and introduced.
