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.
MANSON BENEDICT, RAYMOND T. SHANSTROM, STANLEY L. AMBERG, N. BARRIE MCLEOD, PAUL T. STERANKA
Nuclear Science and Engineering | Volume 11 | Number 4 | December 1961 | Pages 386-396
Technical Paper | doi.org/10.13182/NSE61-A26040
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
Examples are given of the application of computer code FUELCYC to fuel cycle analysis of pressurized water, organic moderated, and heavy water reactors. Properties of these reactors evaluated include the flux energy spectrum, changes in fuel composition and effective cross sections on irradiation, and changes in power density distribution. The effects of different initial fuel enrichments and six different fuel and poison management procedures on the average burnup of fuel, its maximum burnup, the peak-to-average power density ratio and fuel cycle costs are investigated. Fuel cycle costs may be reduced by having good neutron economy, high burnup, and a steady fueling procedure in which neutrons are not wasted in control poison. Of the fueling methods examined, out-in fueling, or some discontinuous approximation to it, seems best because of its flat power-density distribution and relatively low fuel cycle cost. Where mechanically feasible, bidirectional axial fueling is also advantageous because of the uniform fuel burnup it makes possible and its low fuel cycle cost.