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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
2025 ANS Annual Conference
June 15–18, 2025
Chicago, IL|Chicago Marriott Downtown
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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
Don O. Coffin, Steven P. Cole, Richard C. Wilhelm
Fusion Science and Technology | Volume 14 | Number 2 | September 1988 | Pages 972-976
Containment, Control, and Maintenance of Tritium System | doi.org/10.13182/FST88-A25263
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
A commercial peizoelectric valve has been modified to enhance its tritium compatibility, enabling it to provide about 125 tritium gas injections planned for Princeton's Tokamak Fusion Test Reactor (TFTR). The valve was modified at Los Alamos National Laboratory (LAND, exposed to progressively higher concentrations to tritium gas, and repeatedly tested for performance with tritium. The modified valve meets the basic TFTR flow requirements (50 torr L/s), and it survived 3400 torr hr exposure to tritium with neither decrease in performance nor significant leakage across the closed valve. A totally tritium-compatible piezo valve, containing no organic materials, is also proposed and described.This work is supported by the US Department of Energy, Office of Fusion Energy.
