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Division Spotlight
Reactor Physics
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.
Meeting Spotlight
Utility Working Conference and Vendor Technology Expo (UWC 2024)
August 4–7, 2024
Marco Island, FL|JW Marriott Marco Island
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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Fusion Science and Technology
Latest News
Taking shape: Fusion energy ecosystems built with public-private partnerships
It’s possible to describe fusion in simple terms: heat and squeeze small atoms to get abundant clean energy. But there’s nothing simple about getting fusion ready for the grid.
Private developers, national lab and university researchers, suppliers, and end users working toward that goal are developing a range of complex technologies to reach fusion temperatures and pressures, confounded by science and technology gaps linked to plasma behavior; materials, diagnostics, and electronics for extreme environments; fuel cycle sustainability; and economics.
Payam Vaezi, Christopher Holland
Fusion Science and Technology | Volume 74 | Number 1 | July-August 2018 | Pages 77-88
Technical Paper | doi.org/10.1080/15361055.2017.1372987
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
Due to the strong nonlinear dependence of plasma turbulence on drive and dissipation mechanisms, uncertainties in experimental inputs can be greatly magnified in simulations of this turbulence. Thus, careful uncertainty quantification (UQ) and its inclusion within validation metrics is an integral part of plasma turbulence validation studies. To minimize the number of simulations required for UQ, we investigate the use of the rapidly converging nonintrusive probabilistic collocation method (PCM) for efficient plasma turbulence UQ. This approach is shown to yield more realistic uncertainty estimates than simple uniform sampling methods for a practical number of nonlinear simulations. The inclusion of UQ above and near critical gradients is discussed. To demonstrate its utility, the advantages of PCM are first illustrated using a simple model of critical gradient turbulence. It is then used on simulations from a validation study of drift-wave turbulence in the CSDX linear plasma device experiment. The advantage of more advanced methods for selecting samples from the uncertainties in the plasma turbulence simulations is also discussed.