ANS is committed to advancing, fostering, and promoting the development and application of nuclear sciences and technologies to benefit society.
Explore the many uses for nuclear science and its impact on energy, the environment, healthcare, food, and more.
Division Spotlight
Robotics & Remote Systems
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.
Meeting Spotlight
2024 ANS Annual Conference
June 16–19, 2024
Las Vegas, NV|Mandalay Bay Resort and Casino
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!
Latest Magazine Issues
Mar 2024
Jan 2024
Latest Journal Issues
Nuclear Science and Engineering
April 2024
Nuclear Technology
Fusion Science and Technology
February 2024
Latest News
Can hydrogen be the transportation fuel in an otherwise nuclear economy?
Let’s face it: The global economy should be powered primarily by nuclear power. And it probably will by the end of this century, with a still-significant assist from renewables and hydro. Once nuclear systems are dominant, the costs come down to where gas is now; and when carbon emissions are reduced to a small portion of their present state, it will become obvious that most other sources are only good in niche settings. I mean, why use small modular reactors to load-follow when they can just produce that power instead of buffering it?
G. Paquignon, D. Brisset, V. Lamaison, J. Manzagol, P. Bonnay, E. Bouleau, D. Chatain, D. Communal, J-P. Perin
Fusion Science and Technology | Volume 51 | Number 4 | May 2007 | Pages 764-768
Technical Paper | doi.org/10.13182/FST07-A1475
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
The Laser Megajoule (LMJ) Cryotarget Positioner (PCC) will be used to set cryogenic targets in the vacuum chamber centre of this experimental facility for fusion by inertial confinement. In the French concept, only the targets will be transferred at cryogenic temperature to the PCC, using a Cryotarget Transfer Unit (UTCC). Some of the specifications are very ambitious. Indeed, the targets must be transferred automatically between those cryorobots, at a temperature between 20 K and 29 K. Then, they have to be cooled carefully by the PCC to the triple point (TP) of deuterium-tritium mixture at a rate of 0.5 mK/min. Just below the TP they have to be regulated with an accuracy of +/- 2 mK. Eventually, the DT mixture has to be set 1.5 K below the TP.Scale one prototypes of the cryostats have been built at the Low Temperature Laboratory (SBT) in CEA-Grenoble, France, to deal with specific issues: cryogenic contact resistances, fine cryogenic temperature regulation, test of the feasibility of various thermodynamic paths, 6 degrees of freedom robot positioner, vision control of the transfer and automation. This paper presents the results obtained with these prototypes regarding topics specific to cryogenic transfers, followed by very fine regulation of temperature around 20 K and by dynamic quenching just before the laser shot.