ANS is committed to advancing, fostering, and promoting the development and application of nuclear sciences and technologies to benefit society.
Explore the many uses for nuclear science and its impact on energy, the environment, healthcare, food, and more.
Explore membership for yourself or for your organization.
Conference Spotlight
2026 Nuclear Energy Conference & Expo (NECX)
August 24–27, 2026
Dallas, TX|Hilton Anatole
Latest Magazine Issues
Jul 2026
Jan 2026
2026
Latest Journal Issues
Nuclear Science and Engineering
August 2026
Nuclear Technology
July 2026
Fusion Science and Technology
Latest News
The deadline arrives: Checking in on the Reactor Pilot Program
On May 23, 2025, President Trump signed Executive Order 14301, “Reforming Nuclear Reactor Testing at the DOE,” which instructed the Department of Energy to create a Reactor Pilot Program (RPP)—a new system in which companies could pursue DOE authorization to build and test their first-of-a-kind nuclear technologies. EO 14301 set an ambitious goal for that program: three reactors achieving criticality by July 4, 2026.
Robert Martin
Nuclear Science and Engineering | Volume 48 | Number 2 | June 1972 | Pages 125-138
Technical Paper | doi.org/10.13182/NSE72-A22466
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
This article presents the results of an experimental study of the void fraction at high pressure (80 to 140 kg/cm2) in two rectangular channels (5 × 0.2 and 5 × 0.28 cm) simulating a subchannel of a nuclear reactor plate-type fuel element. The method enabled the distribution of the local void fraction in a cross section to be measured at about 100 locations; from these local values it was possible to determine accurate mean values and to precisely quantitate the influence of the parameters: pressure, mass velocity, and heat flux. This distributions of void fractions, among the first to be determined in this range of pressures, were obtained from 120 000 systematic, individual measurements, sufficient to allow accurate interpolations in the experimental region under consideration which included subcooled conditions. These results enabled testing certain models presented in the literature. Analyses with the Bowring model, for example, are in good agreement with present experimental data at 80 kg/cm2. The purpose of this study was not to establish a new model but to furnish accurate data for verification or, if necessary, adjustment of existing models.