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Conference Spotlight
Nuclear Energy Conference & Expo (NECX)
September 8–11, 2025
Atlanta, GA|Atlanta Marriott Marquis
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A new ANSI/ANS standard for liquid metal fire protection published
ANSI/ANS-54.8-2025, Liquid Metal Fire Protection in LMR Plants, received approval from the American National Standards Institute on September 2 and is now available for purchase.
The 2025 edition is a reinvigoration of the withdrawn ANS-54.8-1988 of the same title. The Advanced Reactor Codes and Standards Collaborative (ARCSC) identified the need for a current version of the standard via an industry survey.
Typical liquid metal reactor designs use liquid sodium as the coolant for both the primary and intermediate heat-transport systems. In addition, liquid sodium and NaK (a mixture of sodium and potassium that is liquid at room temperature) are often used in auxiliary heat-removal systems. Since these liquid metals can react readily with oxygen, water, and other compounds, special precautions must be taken in the design, construction, testing, and maintenance of the sodium/NaK systems to ensure that the potential for leakage is very small.
Joel H. Ferziger, George S. C. Wang, P. F. Zweifel
Nuclear Science and Engineering | Volume 10 | Number 3 | July 1961 | Pages 285-294
Technical Paper | doi.org/10.13182/NSE61-A25972
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
An adaptation of Behrens' Method to the calculation of diffusion lengths in heterogeneous media is given. In all cases, the diffusion length in a medium containing absorbing lumps can be related to the self-shielding factor of the lumps. Calculations are presented only for the simplest case given but the results display considerable disagreement with a frequently used formula. On grounds which are mainly intuitive, it is believed that this method is more accurate, particularly for large moderator to absorber ratio. Final conclusions cannot be drawn, however, until more experimental data become available.