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Division Spotlight
Accelerator Applications
The division was organized to promote the advancement of knowledge of the use of particle accelerator technologies for nuclear and other applications. It focuses on production of neutrons and other particles, utilization of these particles for scientific or industrial purposes, such as the production or destruction of radionuclides significant to energy, medicine, defense or other endeavors, as well as imaging and diagnostics.
Meeting Spotlight
International Conference on Mathematics and Computational Methods Applied to Nuclear Science and Engineering (M&C 2025)
April 27–30, 2025
Denver, CO|The Westin Denver 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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Nuclear Science and Engineering
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Nuclear Technology
Fusion Science and Technology
May 2025
Latest News
Argonne’s METL gears up to test more sodium fast reactor components
Argonne National Laboratory has successfully swapped out an aging cold trap in the sodium test loop called METL (Mechanisms Engineering Test Loop), the Department of Energy announced April 23. The upgrade is the first of its kind in the United States in more than 30 years, according to the DOE, and will help test components and operations for the sodium-cooled fast reactors being developed now.
S.G.E. Pronko, S. Delaware, T.E. Harris, D. Hoyt, D.H. Kellman, R.A. Legg, M. Lontoc, A. Nerem, J.R. Valentine
Fusion Science and Technology | Volume 39 | Number 2 | March 2001 | Pages 1111-1115
Plasma Engineering, Heating, and Current Drive | doi.org/10.13182/FST01-A11963393
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
The DIII-D National Fusion Facility at General Atomics is completing the upgrade of its electron cyclotron heating (ECH) capability from the previous 3 MW at 110 GHz to 6 MW of generated microwave power.1 An 8.4 MW modulator/regulator (M/R) power system has been designed and constructed.2 Surplus hardware that was acquired from the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) Mirror Fusion Test Facility (MFTF program) was used as part of the design foundation. The power system, with a nominal output of −80 kV and 80 A, can supply a pair of gyrotrons with up to 10 second long pulses that may or may not be modulated.
The modulator/regulator was designed about the BBC CKQ200-4 tetrode, which was the key component acquired from the LLNL program. In order to meet the performance goals of the program, substantial design modifications were needed to be made on the grid driver amplifier and the closed-loop feedback regulator circuits.3 Also, a newly designed crowbar switch system, featuring a high speed, thyratron-like triggered gas switch, was implemented. The modulator/regulator performance to date has been demonstrated as having <0.06% peak-to-peak ripple and square wave modulation of 50% amplitude at 2 kHz. The key features of the design of the power system and its performance will be presented in this paper.
