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Conference Spotlight
Nuclear Energy Conference & Expo (NECX)
September 8–11, 2025
Atlanta, GA|Atlanta Marriott Marquis
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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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A new ANSI/ANS standard for liquid metal fire protection published
ANSI/ANS-54.8-2025, Liquid Metal Fire Protection in LMR Plants, received approval from the American National Standards Institute on September 2 and is now available for purchase.
The 2025 edition is a reinvigoration of the withdrawn ANS-54.8-1988 of the same title. The Advanced Reactor Codes and Standards Collaborative (ARCSC) identified the need for a current version of the standard via an industry survey.
Typical liquid metal reactor designs use liquid sodium as the coolant for both the primary and intermediate heat-transport systems. In addition, liquid sodium and NaK (a mixture of sodium and potassium that is liquid at room temperature) are often used in auxiliary heat-removal systems. Since these liquid metals can react readily with oxygen, water, and other compounds, special precautions must be taken in the design, construction, testing, and maintenance of the sodium/NaK systems to ensure that the potential for leakage is very small.
M. Čopič, T. Kalin, G. Pregl, F. Žerdin
Nuclear Science and Engineering | Volume 19 | Number 1 | May 1964 | Pages 74-79
Technical Paper | doi.org/10.13182/NSE64-A19790
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
The thermal-neutron diffusion constant was measured in a plexiglas system with empty channels, using the pulsed-neutron-source technique. From separate sets of measurements on rectangular blocks, the diffusion constants parallel and perpendicular to channels were determined, whereas the measurements on cubes give the average diffusion constant. The results are compared with existing theoretical estimations. It is found that the average diffusion constant is well below the theoretical predictions of Behrens. On the other hand, the difference between the parallel and the perpendicular diffusion constant is almost as large as predicted theoretically.