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Division Spotlight
Reactor Physics
The division's objectives are to promote the advancement of knowledge and understanding of the fundamental physical phenomena characterizing nuclear reactors and other nuclear systems. The division encourages research and disseminates information through meetings and publications. Areas of technical interest include nuclear data, particle interactions and transport, reactor and nuclear systems analysis, methods, design, validation and operating experience and standards. The Wigner Award heads the awards program.
Meeting Spotlight
International Conference on Mathematics and Computational Methods Applied to Nuclear Science and Engineering (M&C 2025)
April 27–30, 2025
Denver, CO|The Westin Denver 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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Latest News
Dragonfly, a Pu-fueled drone heading to Titan, gets key NASA approval
Curiosity landed on Mars sporting a radioisotope thermoelectric generator (RTG) in 2012, and a second NASA rover, Perseverance, landed in 2021. Both are still rolling across the red planet in the name of science. Another exploratory craft with a similar plutonium-238–fueled RTG but a very different mission—to fly between multiple test sites on Titan, Saturn’s largest moon—recently got one step closer to deployment.
On April 25, NASA and the Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory (APL) announced that the Dragonfly mission to Saturn’s icy moon passed its critical design review. “Passing this mission milestone means that Dragonfly’s mission design, fabrication, integration, and test plans are all approved, and the mission can now turn its attention to the construction of the spacecraft itself,” according to NASA.
R. A. Anderl, J. D. Baker, G. L. Bourne, R. J. Pawelko
Fusion Science and Technology | Volume 28 | Number 3 | October 1995 | Pages 1114-1119
Tritium Properties and Interaction with Material | Proceedings of the Fifth Topical Meeting on Tritium Technology In Fission, Fusion, and Isotopic Applications Belgirate, Italy May 28-June 3, 1995 | doi.org/10.13182/FST95-A30556
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
Tritium and helium release behavior have been measured for Be specimens irradiated at 75°C in the Advanced Test Reactor (ATR) to a fast neutron fluence of 5×1022 n/cm2. Stepped-isothermal anneal experiments were conducted from room temperature to above the melting point of Be, with the temperature steps varied from one experiment to the other. In-line ion chambers and quadrupole mass spectrometers were used to measure the gases released to an Ar process gas stream flowing across a heated specimen. Gases released from the specimens included H2, 3He, 4He, and tritium as HT and T2. Release of the hydrogenic and tritium gases were observed to be concurrent with the release of helium, providing direct evidence of these gases in microscopic helium bubbles in the irradiated Be. Tritium and helium release kinetics were dependent on the magnitude of the temperature steps between 600°C and 800°C.
