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Division Spotlight
Thermal Hydraulics
The division provides a forum for focused technical dialogue on thermal hydraulic technology in the nuclear industry. Specifically, this will include heat transfer and fluid mechanics involved in the utilization of nuclear energy. It is intended to attract the highest quality of theoretical and experimental work to ANS, including research on basic phenomena and application to nuclear system design.
Meeting Spotlight
2025 ANS Annual Conference
June 15–18, 2025
Chicago, IL|Chicago Marriott 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
Zaporizhzhia ‘extremely fragile’ relying on single off-site power line, IAEA warns
Europe’s largest nuclear power plant has just one remaining power line for essential nuclear safety and security functions, compared with its original 10 functional lines before the military conflict with Russia, warned Rafael Mariano Grossi, director general of the International Atomic Energy Agency.
A.M. Hassanein
Fusion Science and Technology | Volume 15 | Number 2 | March 1989 | Pages 513-521
Plasma Engineering | doi.org/10.13182/FST89-A39751
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
Melting and vaporization of metallic reactor components such as the first wall and the limiter/divertor may be expected in fusion reactors due to the high energy deposition resulting from plasma instabilities occuring during both normal and off-normal operating conditions. Off-normal operating conditions result from plasma disruptions where the plasma loses confinement and dumps its energy on parts of reactor components. High heat flux may also result during normal operating conditions due to fluctuations in plasma edge conditions. The net erosion rates resulting from both melting and vaporization are very important in estimating the lifetime of such reactor components. Of particular significance is the stability and erosion of the resulting melt layer which directly impacts the total expected lifetime of the reactor. During the course of the disruption, the melt layer may be exposed to various forces such as electromagnetic, gravitational, plasma debris momentum, vapor recoil, surface tension and other forces. The loss of the melt layer during the disruption could have a serious impact on the required safe and economic operation of the reactor. A model is developed to describe the behavior of the melt layer during the time evolution of the disruption. The analysis is done parametrically for a range of disruption times, energy densities and various acting forces.