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Division Spotlight
Operations & Power
Members focus on the dissemination of knowledge and information in the area of power reactors with particular application to the production of electric power and process heat. The division sponsors meetings on the coverage of applied nuclear science and engineering as related to power plants, non-power reactors, and other nuclear facilities. It encourages and assists with the dissemination of knowledge pertinent to the safe and efficient operation of nuclear facilities through professional staff development, information exchange, and supporting the generation of viable solutions to current issues.
Meeting Spotlight
Materials in Nuclear Energy Systems (MiNES 2023)
December 10–14, 2023
New Orleans, LA|New Orleans Marriott
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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Dec 2023
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Nuclear Science and Engineering
December 2023
Nuclear Technology
Fusion Science and Technology
November 2023
Latest News
Granholm visits Clinch River Site to show support for SMRs
Energy secretary Jennifer Granholm visited the Clinch River Nuclear Site in Oak Ridge, Tenn., on December 5 to highlight the Biden administration’s support for the Tennessee Valley Authority’s advanced nuclear technology program.
Granholm indicated that the administration is willing to provide funding for the nation’s first commercial small modular reactor at the site. “Excited to see a shovel in the ground, hopefully in a few more years,” she said. “TVA is leading on small modular reactors with this site. Everybody’s looking to TVA to make sure that this can actually happen.”
L. Chen, W. Zhao, G. Zhong, C. Watts, James P. Gunn, X. Liu, Y. Lian, DLP Team
Fusion Science and Technology | Volume 73 | Number 4 | May 2018 | Pages 568-578
Technical Note | doi.org/10.1080/15361055.2017.1415614
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
The thermal performance of the divertor Langmuir probe conceptual design developed for the ITER divertor, which consists of a shielded probe bolted to a copper heat sink, has been predicted by the finite element analysis package ANSYS to have a high risk of damage due to poor heat transfer ability. In order to mitigate this risk, three alternative designs focusing on improving heat conduction have been proposed, and the power-handling abilities, damage risk, and interface challenges of the three designs have been compared. First simulation results indicate that a design involving casting a tungsten probe sensor into a copper heat sink could provide adequate heat-handling capacity. Elasto-plastic stress analysis will be needed to evaluate the thermal stresses at W/Cu interface in our future work. Langmuir probe prototypes will be prepared and high heat flux tests will be performed on electron beam facilities at the Southwestern Institute of Physics to verify the probe functionality once analysis has identified a suitable candidate design.