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Division Spotlight
Accelerator Applications
The division was organized to promote the advancement of knowledge of the use of particle accelerator technologies for nuclear and other applications. It focuses on production of neutrons and other particles, utilization of these particles for scientific or industrial purposes, such as the production or destruction of radionuclides significant to energy, medicine, defense or other endeavors, as well as imaging and diagnostics.
Meeting Spotlight
International Conference on Mathematics and Computational Methods Applied to Nuclear Science and Engineering (M&C 2025)
April 27–30, 2025
Denver, CO|The Westin Denver Downtown
Standards Program
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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Latest News
Argonne’s METL gears up to test more sodium fast reactor components
Argonne National Laboratory has successfully swapped out an aging cold trap in the sodium test loop called METL (Mechanisms Engineering Test Loop), the Department of Energy announced April 23. The upgrade is the first of its kind in the United States in more than 30 years, according to the DOE, and will help test components and operations for the sodium-cooled fast reactors being developed now.
K. O. Ott
Nuclear Science and Engineering | Volume 113 | Number 2 | February 1993 | Pages 122-135
Technical Paper | doi.org/10.13182/NSE93-A24002
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
A simplified model for a liquid-metal-cooled reactor (LMR) transient analysis, in which point kinetics as well as lumped descriptions of the heat transfer equations in all components are applied, is converted from a differential into an integral formulation. All 30 differential balance equations are implicitly solved in terms of convolution integrals. The prompt jump approximation is applied as the strong negative feedback effectively keeps the net reactivity well below prompt critical. After implicit finite differencing of the convolution integrals, the kinetics equation assumes a new form, i.e., the “quadratic dynamics equation.” In this integral formulation, the initial value problem of typical LMR transients can be solved with large time steps (initially I s, later up to 256 s). This then makes transient problems amenable to a treatment on a personal computer. The resulting mathematical model forms the basis for the GW-BASIC program LMR transient calculation (LTC) program. The LTC program has also been converted to QuickBASIC. The running time for a 10-h transient overpower transient is then ≈40 to 10 s, depending on the hardware version (286, 386, or 486 with math coprocessors).