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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.
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2021 Student Conference
April 8–10, 2021
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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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Fukiushima Daiichi: 10 years on
The Fukushima Daiichi site before the accident. All images are provided courtesy of TEPCO unless noted otherwise.
It was a rather normal day back on March 11, 2011, at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant before 2:45 p.m. That was the time when the Great Tohoku Earthquake struck, followed by a massive tsunami that caused three reactor meltdowns and forever changed the nuclear power industry in Japan and worldwide. Now, 10 years later, much has been learned and done to improve nuclear safety, and despite many challenges, significant progress is being made to decontaminate and defuel the extensively damaged Fukushima Daiichi reactor site. This is a summary of what happened, progress to date, current situation, and the outlook for the future there.
Kurt J. Boehm, A. R. Raffray, N. B. Alexander, D. T. Frey, D. T. Goodin
Fusion Science and Technology | Volume 56 | Number 1 | July 2009 | Pages 422-426
IFE Target Design | Eighteenth Topical Meeting on the Technology of Fusion Energy (Part 1) | dx.doi.org/10.13182/FST09-A8938
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
A fluidized bed is being studied as a very promising method for mass production of IFE targets. Large beds could be filled with many targets to provide large-scale production, while a near-isothermal environment could be maintained in principle around each target (as required for smooth layering to meet the physics requirements on the ice characteristics) through the random movement and spin of individual targets within a precisely controlled gas stream. Concerns exist, however, including the effect of unbalanced spheres on the bed behavior and ultimately on the target thermal environment, as well as the possible damage of the target surface (in particular the thin high-Z coating).This effort includes developing a numerical fluidized bed model and conducting laboratory-scale companion experiments to help understand the cryogenic fluidized bed behavior. Key challenges in developing the model include the relative size of the spherical targets (~4.0 mm) compared to the size of the prototypic fluidized bed container (~26 mm in diameter), which is much larger than those found in conventional fluidized bed models and which calls for a different modeling approach. In addition, the behavior of unbalanced targets, which results from the initial D-T filling and freezing in the target production process, needs to be accounted for.This paper summarizes the development of this model, including the validation performed by comparing the model results to controlled lab-scale experiments. The goal is to use the model for parametric analysis to help determine the most promising state of operation to deliver large quantities of uniformly layered target shells. This will provide key pre-operational input to the prototypical experimental set-up, which is currently being built and which includes a high-pressure deuterium filling station in addition to the cryogenic fluidized bed operating at temperatures around 18 K.
