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Operations & Power
Members focus on the dissemination of knowledge and information in the area of power reactors with particular application to the production of electric power and process heat. The division sponsors meetings on the coverage of applied nuclear science and engineering as related to power plants, non-power reactors, and other nuclear facilities. It encourages and assists with the dissemination of knowledge pertinent to the safe and efficient operation of nuclear facilities through professional staff development, information exchange, and supporting the generation of viable solutions to current issues.
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2025 ANS Annual Conference
June 15–18, 2025
Chicago, IL|Chicago Marriott Downtown
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
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
Hubert Pialot, David Demange, Brice Ravat, Manuel Grivet
Fusion Science and Technology | Volume 41 | Number 3 | May 2002 | Pages 495-499
Analysis and Monitoring | Proceedings of the Sixth International Conference on Tritium Science and Technology Tsukuba, Japan November 12-16, 2001 | doi.org/10.13182/FST02-A22638
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
This paper presents a method to quantify the tritium activity in a drum by measurement of its helium-3 leak. A model of helium exchanges with the atmosphere has been developed. It takes into account the diffusion phenomena and the influence of atmospheric pressure changes. The validation has been achieved with a pilot and the comparison between theoretical and experimental data has highlighted a very good agreement. Drum's helium-3 leak equilibrates after six months and then equals the helium-3 production in the drum and so to the total tritium activity. The measurement technique is also described. It's based on quantitative helium trace level determinations with an adapted leak detector. After a drum's confinement period of 5 hours and a cryogenic treatment of gaseous samples, the method allows to detect a 5 GBq activity of tritium in a drum.
