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.
C.C. Chu, M. L. Corradini
Nuclear Science and Engineering | Volume 101 | Number 1 | January 1989 | Pages 48-71
Technical Paper | doi.org/10.13182/NSE89-A23594
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
A fuel/coolant interaction (FCI) is a phenomenon that may occur during a light water reactor severe accident when molten fuel comes into contact with residual water in-vessel or in the reactor containment. A new one-dimensional multifluid transient model, which currently has the capability of examining nonexplosive FCI behavior, is described. A unique dynamic fuel fragmentation model based on relative velocities was incorporated into this model along with other constitutive relations. The model was compared to the limited FCI data on mixing and nonexplosive FCI events and shows relatively good agreement. In addition, a set of FCI parametric calculations for in-vessel fuel-coolant mixing was performed to gain insight into the important variable affecting mixing (i.e., pressure, water depth, multiple jets) and the initial conditions for the explosion.