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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
2021 Student Conference
April 8–10, 2021
Virtual Meeting
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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NC State celebrates 70 years of nuclear engineering education
An early picture of the research reactor building on the North Carolina State University campus. The Department of Nuclear Engineering is celebrating the 70th anniversary of its nuclear engineering curriculum in 2020–2021. Photo: North Carolina State University
The Department of Nuclear Engineering at North Carolina State University has spent the 2020–2021 academic year celebrating the 70th anniversary of its becoming the first U.S. university to establish a nuclear engineering curriculum. It started in 1950, when Clifford Beck, then of Oak Ridge, Tenn., obtained support from NC State’s dean of engineering, Harold Lampe, to build the nation’s first university nuclear reactor and, in conjunction, establish an educational curriculum dedicated to nuclear engineering.
The department, host to the 2021 ANS Virtual Student Conference, scheduled for April 8–10, now features 23 tenure/tenure-track faculty and three research faculty members. “What a journey for the first nuclear engineering curriculum in the nation,” said Kostadin Ivanov, professor and department head.
D. T. Frey et al.
Fusion Science and Technology | Volume 47 | Number 4 | May 2005 | Pages 1143-1146
Technical Paper | Fusion Energy - Inertial Fusion Technology | dx.doi.org/10.13182/FST05-30
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
Inertial Fusion Energy (IFE) with laser drivers is a pulsed power generation system that relies on repetitive, high-speed injection of targets into a fusion reactor. To produce an economically viable IFE power plant the targets must be injected into the reactor at a rate between 5 and 10 Hz.To survive the injection process, direct drive (laser fusion) targets (spherical capsules) are placed into protective sabots. The sabots separate from the target and are stripped off before entering the reactor chamber. Indirect drive (heavy ion fusion) utilizes a hohlraum surrounding the spherical capsule and enters the chamber as one piece.In our target injection demonstration system, the sabots or hohlraums are injected into a vacuum system with a light gas gun using helium as a propellant. To achieve pulsed operation a rep-rated injection system has been developed. For a viable power plant we must be able to fire continuously at 6 Hz. This demonstration system is currently set up to allow bursts of up to 12 targets at 6 Hz. Using the current system, tests have been successfully run with direct drive targets to show sabot separation under vacuum and at barrel exit velocities of ~400 m/s.The existing revolver system along with operational data will be presented.