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Mathematics & Computation
Division members promote the advancement of mathematical and computational methods for solving problems arising in all disciplines encompassed by the Society. They place particular emphasis on numerical techniques for efficient computer applications to aid in the dissemination, integration, and proper use of computer codes, including preparation of computational benchmark and development of standards for computing practices, and to encourage the development on new computer codes and broaden their use.
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Nuclear and Emerging Technologies for Space (NETS 2025)
May 4–8, 2025
Huntsville, AL|Huntsville Marriott and the Space & Rocket Center
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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
U.S. nuclear capacity factors: Stability and energy dominance
Nuclear generation has inertia. Massive spinning turbines keep electricity flowing during grid disturbances. But nuclear generation also has a kind of inertia that isn’t governed by the laws of motion.
Starting—and then finishing—a power reactor construction project requires significant upfront effort and money, but once built a reactor can run for decades. Capacity factors of U.S. reactors have remained near 90 percent since the turn of the century, but it took more than a decade of improvements to reach that steady state. The payoff for nuclear investments is long-term and reliable.
G. Hornung, A. Shabbir, G. Verdoolaege
Fusion Science and Technology | Volume 69 | Number 3 | May 2016 | Pages 586-594
Technical Paper | doi.org/10.13182/FST15-192
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
The possibility of inferring the properties of electron density fluctuations in tokamak plasmas from a reflectometer signal by means of Bayesian methods is investigated. Within the physical optics approximation, the interaction of the probing beam with the plasma is described as reflection from a surface with stochastic properties that is simulated numerically. A Bayesian technique is outlined to solve the inverse problem to determine the surface characteristics from the power spectrum of the reflectometer signal. It is shown that satisfactory estimates of the length and timescales and the amplitude of density fluctuations can be obtained in conditions relevant to core tokamak plasmas.