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DOE selects first companies for nuclear launch pad
The Department of Energy’s Office of Nuclear Energy and the National Reactor Innovation Center have announced their first selections for the Nuclear Energy Launch Pad: three companies developing microreactors and one developing fuel supply.
The four companies—Deployable Energy, General Matter, NuCube Energy, and Radiant Industries—were selected from the initial pool of Reactor Pilot Program and Fuel Line Pilot Program applicants, the two precursor programs to the launch pad.
Helio C. Vital,* F. M. Clikeman, K. O. Ott
Nuclear Science and Engineering | Volume 96 | Number 2 | June 1987 | Pages 102-111
Technical Paper | doi.org/10.13182/NSE87-A16370
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
Fission rate measurements were performed in the Purdue Fast Breeder Blanket Facility (FBBF) and compared with two-dimensional 50-group diffusion calculations on an absolute basis. Fission rates in 239Pu, 235U, 237Np, 238U, and 232Th were measured using fused quartz fission track recorders. Calculations using the 1DX and 2DB codes, and the LIB-IV nuclear data library were compared with the measurements in the form of reaction rate calculated-to-experiment (C/E) trajectories. The investigations were aimed at providing an improved understanding and description of the high-energy neutron fluxes and reaction rate distributions. Also investigated were previously reported C/E reaction rate discrepancies in the blanket. Detailed analysis of the fine structure in the fission rate C/E trajectories, which drop off with increasing radius similar to previously reported C/E deviations, indicates that the transmission of neutrons through the blanket is being underpredicted to a greater degree at higher energies. Different C/E trajectories were found for different blanket configurations of the FBBF. Special computational studies, allowing fast neutron transmission and in situ effects to be separated, provided information on the sources of discrepancies.