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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.
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2024 ANS Annual Conference
June 16–19, 2024
Las Vegas, NV|Mandalay Bay Resort and Casino
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Nuclear Technology
Fusion Science and Technology
Latest News
Glass strategy: Hanford’s enhanced waste glass program
The mission of the Department of Energy’s Office of River Protection (ORP) is to complete the safe cleanup of waste resulting from decades of nuclear weapons development. One of the most technologically challenging responsibilities is the safe disposition of approximately 56 million gallons of radioactive waste historically stored in 177 tanks at the Hanford Site in Washington state.
ORP has a clear incentive to reduce the overall mission duration and cost. One pathway is to develop and deploy innovative technical solutions that can advance baseline flow sheets toward higher efficiency operations while reducing identified risks without compromising safety. Vitrification is the baseline process that will convert both high-level and low-level radioactive waste at Hanford into a stable glass waste form for long-term storage and disposal.
Although vitrification is a mature technology, there are key areas where technology can further reduce operational risks, advance baseline processes to maximize waste throughput, and provide the underpinning to enhance operational flexibility; all steps in reducing mission duration and cost.
B. Sieglin, M. Faitsch, A. Herrmann, S. Martinov, T. Eich, ASDEX Upgrade Team
Fusion Science and Technology | Volume 69 | Number 3 | May 2016 | Pages 580-585
Technical Paper | doi.org/10.13182/FST15-183
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
Infrared (IR) thermography is a widely used tool in fusion research to study the thermal load onto plasma-facing components. In present-day fusion experiments with short-pulse duration, off-line data analysis is still feasible. For devices with long-pulse duration and actively cooled plasma-facing components, IR thermography is a common tool for machine protection. In future fusion devices with long-pulse duration, online data evaluation of the thermography measurement for additional physics studies is required. Real-time–capable IR thermography was developed at ASDEX Upgrade. The feasibility of real-time thermography is discussed in this work. The evaluation process from raw data to evaluated temperature and heat flux is shown. The real-time version of the THEODOR code allows online calculation of the heat flux. Exploiting the possibility of the IR system to change the integration time during acquisition opens up the possibility to have automated thermography. The current status of the thermography system at ASDEX Upgrade and future developments for its improvement are discussed.
