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Aerospace Nuclear Science & Technology
Organized to promote the advancement of knowledge in the use of nuclear science and technologies in the aerospace application. Specialized nuclear-based technologies and applications are needed to advance the state-of-the-art in aerospace design, engineering and operations to explore planetary bodies in our solar system and beyond, plus enhance the safety of air travel, especially high speed air travel. Areas of interest will include but are not limited to the creation of nuclear-based power and propulsion systems, multifunctional materials to protect humans and electronic components from atmospheric, space, and nuclear power system radiation, human factor strategies for the safety and reliable operation of nuclear power and propulsion plants by non-specialized personnel and more.
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2024 ANS Winter Conference and Expo
November 17–21, 2024
Orlando, FL|Renaissance Orlando at SeaWorld
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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Keeping up with Kewaunee
In October 2012, Dominion Energy announced it was closing the Kewaunee nuclear power plant, a two-loop 574-MWe pressurized water reactor located about 27 miles southeast of Green Bay, Wis., on the western shore of Lake Michigan. At the time, Dominion said the plant was running well, but that low wholesale electricity prices in the region made it uneconomical to continue operation of the single-unit merchant power plant.
A. Klix, Ch. Adelhelm, U. Fischer, D. Gehre, T. Kaiser
Fusion Science and Technology | Volume 62 | Number 1 | July-August 2012 | Pages 196-203
Blanket Materials Technology | Proceedings of the Fifteenth International Conference on Fusion Reactor Materials, Part A: Fusion Technology | doi.org/10.13182/FST12-A14135
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
A consortium of several European laboratories has performed neutronics experiments with a representative mock-up of the European helium-cooled lithium-lead (HCLL) test blanket module (TBM) irradiated with DT neutrons from intense neutron generators. The aim of these experiments was to provide experimental data for checking nuclear data and calculational tools for the prediction accuracy of important parameters such as the tritium production rate and neutron and gamma-ray flux spectra. The mock-up consisted of bricks of solid LiPb arranged in layers separated by Eurofer sheets. The 6Li concentration in the LiPb determines the slow neutron flux distribution in the mock-up, and an accurate knowledge of this value is of paramount importance for the analysis of these neutronics experiments. The analysis of the tritium production rate experiments revealed discrepancies between the real 6Li concentration and the one specified by the manufacturer of the LiPb (natural Li composition). Here we report on the investigation of the 6Li concentration in the LiPb with several experimental techniques: 1) time-of-arrival neutron spectra measured inside the mock-up irradiated with short pulses of 14-MeV neutrons from a DT neutron generator, 2) transmission measurements on LiPb bricks with moderated neutrons from an AmBe source to check for differences between bricks, and 3) mass spectroscopic methods on small samples taken from selected LiPb bricks. We found that the 6Li concentration varies only very little between the bricks. The weight fraction of lithium in the LiPb was 0.61 wt% as quoted by the manufacturer, but the 6Li abundance was half of the natural value in lithium, 3.8 at% instead of 7.5 at%.