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2026 Annual Conference
May 31–June 3, 2026
Denver, CO|Sheraton Denver
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Perpetual Atomics, QSA Global produce Am fuel for nuclear space power
U.K.-based Perpetual Atomics and U.S.-based QSA Global claim to have achieved a major step forward in processing americium dioxide to fuel radioisotope power systems used in space missions. Using an industrially scalable process, the companies said they have turned americium into stable, large-scale ceramic pellets that can be directly integrated into sealed sources for radioisotope power systems, including radioisotope heater units (RHUs) and radioisotope thermoelectric generators (RTGs).
R. C. Lloyd, E. D. Clayton
Nuclear Science and Engineering | Volume 52 | Number 1 | September 1973 | Pages 73-75
Technical Paper | doi.org/10.13182/NSE73-A23289
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
A series of criticality experiments have been completed with plutonium nitrate solutions made up from extremely high burnup fuel (239Pu isotopic concentration <½ total Pu). The measurements were performed on a large, 61-cm-diam, water-reflected, cylindrical vessel. The critical experiment data were analyzed by means of the KENO Monte Carlo code utilizing both ENDF/B-H and -III cross sections; the computed criticality factors were in the range of 1.6 to 1.9% above unity. The effects of the various heavy element isotopes on criticality were analyzed. The results show the importance of properly accounting for, and treating, the effects of each of the various isotopes in computing criticality. Even the presence of as little as 1% of 241 Am can cause a change in the reactivity of the solutions used in these experiments by ∼1%.