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Aerospace Nuclear Science & Technology
Organized to promote the advancement of knowledge in the use of nuclear science and technologies in the aerospace application. Specialized nuclear-based technologies and applications are needed to advance the state-of-the-art in aerospace design, engineering and operations to explore planetary bodies in our solar system and beyond, plus enhance the safety of air travel, especially high speed air travel. Areas of interest will include but are not limited to the creation of nuclear-based power and propulsion systems, multifunctional materials to protect humans and electronic components from atmospheric, space, and nuclear power system radiation, human factor strategies for the safety and reliable operation of nuclear power and propulsion plants by non-specialized personnel and more.
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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
Trine-Yie Dawn, Chio-Min Yang
Nuclear Science and Engineering | Volume 65 | Number 3 | March 1978 | Pages 508-513
Technical Paper | doi.org/10.13182/NSE78-A27181
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
Based on the one-delay-group point reactor model, the influence of the transport time delay on the nature of the linear stability of reactor dynamics is studied with the aid of the method of D partitions. From our analysis, the stability domain can be easily determined and plotted in the parametric space. The domain of the linear stability is significantly altered by the delayed temperature feedback. Comparing the stability domain of the one-group model with the effective lifetime model and Welton's criterion, we obtain the following conclusions: 1. The straight line obtained from Welton's criterion is a tangent line of the dynamic stability boundary of the effective lifetime model. 2. The effective lifetime model is a safe estimation of the linear stability only when the delayed neutron precursor decay constant is greater than the reciprocal time constant for heat removal.
