ANS is committed to advancing, fostering, and promoting the development and application of nuclear sciences and technologies to benefit society.
Explore the many uses for nuclear science and its impact on energy, the environment, healthcare, food, and more.
Division Spotlight
Fuel Cycle & Waste Management
Devoted to all aspects of the nuclear fuel cycle including waste management, worldwide. Division specific areas of interest and involvement include uranium conversion and enrichment; fuel fabrication, management (in-core and ex-core) and recycle; transportation; safeguards; high-level, low-level and mixed waste management and disposal; public policy and program management; decontamination and decommissioning environmental restoration; and excess weapons materials disposition.
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!
Latest Magazine Issues
Apr 2024
Jan 2024
Latest Journal Issues
Nuclear Science and Engineering
May 2024
Nuclear Technology
Fusion Science and Technology
Latest News
NRC updating GEIS rule for new nuclear technology
The Nuclear Regulatory Agency is issuing a proposed generic environmental impact statement (GEIS) for use in reviewing applications for new nuclear reactors.
In an April 17 memo, NRC secretary Carrie Safford wrote that the commission approved NRC staff’s recommendation to publish in the Federal Register a proposed rule amending 10 CFR Part 51, “Environmental Protection Regulations for Domestic Licensing and Related Regulatory Functions.”
S. K. Combs, L. R. Baylor, C. R. Foust, A. Frattolillo, M. S. Lyttle, S. J. Meitner, S. Migliori
Fusion Science and Technology | Volume 68 | Number 2 | September 2015 | Pages 319-325
Technical Paper | Proceedings of TOFE-2014 | doi.org/10.13182/FST14-925
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
An existing pipe gun test facility at ORNL was used for an experimental study of propellant gas loads required for ITER-relevant pellet injection, with the key objective of determining the minimal amount of gas required for optimal pellet speeds. Two pellet sizes were tested, with nominal 4.4 and 3.2 mm diameters comparable to pellets planned for fueling and ELM pacing in ITER, respectively. A novel scheme was used to freeze solid pellets from room temperature gas; this facilitated operations at higher temperatures (14.5 to 16.5 K, similar to those planned for extruder operations for ITER pellet injectors) and thus lower pellet breakaway pressures and gas loads. Most of the single-shot D2 pellet tests were carried out with a relatively low H2 propellant gas load of ~0.0133 bar-L. Some limited testing was also carried out with a mixed propellant gas that consisted mostly of D2, which is more representative of the gas that will be used for ITER pellet injection. In testing it was found that this reference gas load resulted in pellet speeds in close proximity to a speed limit (~300 m/s) previously determined in a series of tests with D2 pellets shot through a mock-up of the curved guide tubes planned for the ITER installation (for pellet fueling from the magnetic high-field side). The equipment, operations, and test results are presented and discussed, with emphasis on the relevance for ITER operations.