ANS is committed to advancing, fostering, and promoting the development and application of nuclear sciences and technologies to benefit society.
Explore the many uses for nuclear science and its impact on energy, the environment, healthcare, food, and more.
Explore membership for yourself or for your organization.
Conference Spotlight
2026 ANS Annual Conference
May 31–June 3, 2026
Denver, CO|Sheraton Denver
Latest Magazine Issues
Feb 2026
Jul 2025
Latest Journal Issues
Nuclear Science and Engineering
February 2026
Nuclear Technology
January 2026
Fusion Science and Technology
Latest News
Playing the “bad guy” to enhance next-generation safety
Sometimes, cops and robbers is more than just a kid’s game. At the Department of Energy’s national laboratories, researchers are channeling their inner saboteurs to discover vulnerabilities in next-generation nuclear reactors, making sure that they’re as safe as possible before they’re even constructed.
M. A. Modesto, E. R. Lindgren, C. W. Morrow
Fusion Science and Technology | Volume 47 | Number 3 | April 2005 | Pages 650-655
Technical Paper | Fusion Energy - Inertial Fusion Technology | doi.org/10.13182/FST05-A760
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
In this work, a preliminary thermal model for the Z-Pinch Power Plant is presented. This power plant utilizes fusion energy to generate electric energy in the GW range. The Z-Pinch Technology consists of compressing high-density plasma to produce X-rays to indirectly heat to ignition a deuterium/tritium fusion capsule. This ignition releases a minimum of 3 GJ every 10 seconds. The thermal energy generated is absorbed by the primary cycle fluid, and it is later used to power a Brayton or Rankine cycle. An advanced heat exchanger is used as the interface between the two cycles. This heat exchanger plays an important role in power plant performance. Three fluids (Flibe, Pb-17Li, and Li) were used for the plant performance analysis. The thermodynamic properties of the selected fluids determine the maximum operating temperature of the power cycles. Model results show that high temperatures (over 1000 °C) are developed in the primary cycle as needed to efficiently run the secondary cycle. The results of the performance parametric study demonstrated that the Brayton cycle exhibits better performance characteristics than the Rankine cycle for this type of application.