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Division Spotlight
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.
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!
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Nuclear Technology
Fusion Science and Technology
Latest News
Securing the advanced reactor fleet
Physical protection accounts for a significant portion of a nuclear power plant’s operational costs. As the U.S. moves toward smaller and safer advanced reactors, similar protection strategies could prove cost prohibitive. For tomorrow’s small modular reactors and microreactors, security costs must remain appropriate to the size of the reactor for economical operation.
Rajendra Prashad Anand, Tejen Kumar Basu, Damaraju V. S. Ramakrishna
Fusion Science and Technology | Volume 31 | Number 3 | May 1997 | Pages 370-377
Technical Paper | Blanket Engineering | doi.org/10.13182/FST97-A30839
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
Uranium-233 breeding studies are carried out in a compact thorium-oxide cylindrical blanket assembly surrounded by a thick polypropylene reflector in a fusion neutron environment. The assembly consists of 11 rings of thorium-oxide rods stacked in a hexagonal geometry with a central through channel for the 14-MeV (d, t) neutron source. A total of 120 thorium-oxide probes are inserted inside the rods in different axial and radial locations in the assembly, which is then subjected to 14-MeV neutron irradiation for 25 h. Protactinium-233 gamma activity produced in the probes because of neutron captures in the thorium is measured using a high-efficiency, high-purity germanium detector. The measured 233U production rates are fitted to obtain axial and radial distributions for different rings. These distributions are used to obtain the total 233U breeding in the whole assembly. The integral measured values are found to be in good agreement with the calculated values obtained employing the MCNP Monte Carlo code using the BMCCS2 cross-section library.
