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Isotopes & Radiation
Members are devoted to applying nuclear science and engineering technologies involving isotopes, radiation applications, and associated equipment in scientific research, development, and industrial processes. Their interests lie primarily in education, industrial uses, biology, medicine, and health physics. Division committees include Analytical Applications of Isotopes and Radiation, Biology and Medicine, Radiation Applications, Radiation Sources and Detection, and Thermal Power Sources.
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Fusion Science and Technology
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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
Tadaaki Arita, Toshihiko Yamanishi, Yasunori Iwai, Masataka Nishi, Ichiro Yamamoto
Fusion Science and Technology | Volume 41 | Number 3 | May 2002 | Pages 1116-1120
Isotope Separation | Proceedings of the Sixth International Conference on Tritium Science and Technology Tsukuba, Japan November 12-16, 2001 | doi.org/10.13182/FST02-A22757
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
The separation factors of a cryogenic-wall thermal diffusion column have been measured with H-D and H-T systems. The column was 1.5 m in height and 0.03 m in diameter. Two types of heaters were tested: a tungsten wire 0.5 mm in diameter and a stainless steel sheath heater 11 mm in diameter. The maximum separation factors using the tungsten wire were 49 for an H-D system and 284 for an H-T system under the total reflux mode at 1273 K. At the feed flow rate of 10 cm3/min, the separation factor using the tungsten wire was 55 for the H-T system at 1273 K. The separation factor was decreased as the diameter of the heater was decreased; and the optimum pressure was increased with the diameter of the heater. In the case where the sheath heater (11 mm) was used at 10 cm3/min with the H-T system, the maximum separation factor reached 2660 even at 763 K.
