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Nuclear Energy Conference & Expo (NECX)
September 8–11, 2025
Atlanta, GA|Atlanta Marriott Marquis
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No impact from Savannah River radioactive wasps
The news is abuzz with recent news stories about four radioactive wasp nests found at the Department of Energy’s Savannah River Site in South Carolina. The site has been undergoing cleanup operations since the 1990s related to the production of plutonium and tritium for defense purposes during the Cold War. Cleanup activities are expected to continue into the 2060s.
José M. Aragonés, Carol Ahnert
Nuclear Science and Engineering | Volume 94 | Number 4 | December 1986 | Pages 309-322
Technical Paper | doi.org/10.13182/NSE86-A18343
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
A linear discontinuous finite difference formulation to solve the diffusion equations in coarse mesh and few groups is developed. The correction factors for heterogeneities, coarse mesh, and spectral effects are general interface flux discontinuity factors that can be explicitly calculated (synthetized) from detailed diffusion or transport solutions in fine mesh (heterogeneous) and multigroups, preserving the integrated fluxes and interface net currents. The stability is explicitly established for general synthetizations and for specific fine to coarse mesh and group reductions. Computing methods have been implemented for one-group (grey) synthetic diffusion acceleration, two-dimensional nodal/local solutions, and three-dimensional nodal simulation of pressurized water reactor cores. Results demonstrate the simplicity and stability of the formulation, a regular behavior of the correction factors, an outstanding acceleration performance, and high potential for parallel and vector computing.