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Division Spotlight
Young Members Group
The Young Members Group works to encourage and enable all young professional members to be actively involved in the efforts and endeavors of the Society at all levels (Professional Divisions, ANS Governance, Local Sections, etc.) as they transition from the role of a student to the role of a professional. It sponsors non-technical workshops and meetings that provide professional development and networking opportunities for young professionals, collaborates with other Divisions and Groups in developing technical and non-technical content for topical and national meetings, encourages its members to participate in the activities of the Groups and Divisions that are closely related to their professional interests as well as in their local sections, introduces young members to the rules and governance structure of the Society, and nominates young professionals for awards and leadership opportunities available to members.
Meeting Spotlight
2025 ANS Annual Conference
June 15–18, 2025
Chicago, IL|Chicago Marriott 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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High-temperature plumbing and advanced reactors
The use of nuclear fission power and its role in impacting climate change is hotly debated. Fission advocates argue that short-term solutions would involve the rapid deployment of Gen III+ nuclear reactors, like Vogtle-3 and -4, while long-term climate change impact would rely on the creation and implementation of Gen IV reactors, “inherently safe” reactors that use passive laws of physics and chemistry rather than active controls such as valves and pumps to operate safely. While Gen IV reactors vary in many ways, one thing unites nearly all of them: the use of exotic, high-temperature coolants. These fluids, like molten salts and liquid metals, can enable reactor engineers to design much safer nuclear reactors—ultimately because the boiling point of each fluid is extremely high. Fluids that remain liquid over large temperature ranges can provide good heat transfer through many demanding conditions, all with minimal pressurization. Although the most apparent use for these fluids is advanced fission power, they have the potential to be applied to other power generation sources such as fusion, thermal storage, solar, or high-temperature process heat.1–3
George M. Boyd, Jr., Ralph M. Rosser, Bennett B. Cardwell, Jr.
Nuclear Science and Engineering | Volume 9 | Number 4 | April 1961 | Pages 442-454
Technical Paper | doi.org/10.13182/NSE61-A25908
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
The method presented can be used to determine fluid flow and coolant pump speed transients in a nuclear reactor system. Included are transients due to power failure, starting pumps in idle loops, and the opening of an active pump's discharge valve. Parallel pumps in the system may be analysed independently of each other. Typical cases are presented for the N. S. Savannah (NMSR) and the Consolidated Edison Thorium Reactor (CETR). Partial failure of pumping power results in an unbalanced change in primary flow, i.e., flow in the active loops accelerates while flow in the failed loops decelerates rapidly. Maximum deceleration occurs when all pumps are operating and only one fails. The maximum rate of cold water is pumped into the reactor when the pumps in an idle loop are started while the discharge valve is open.
