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Reactor Physics
The division's objectives are to promote the advancement of knowledge and understanding of the fundamental physical phenomena characterizing nuclear reactors and other nuclear systems. The division encourages research and disseminates information through meetings and publications. Areas of technical interest include nuclear data, particle interactions and transport, reactor and nuclear systems analysis, methods, design, validation and operating experience and standards. The Wigner Award heads the awards program.
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2024 ANS Annual Conference
June 16–19, 2024
Las Vegas, NV|Mandalay Bay Resort and Casino
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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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Proving DRACO will deliver
The United States is now closer than it has been in over five decades to launching the first nuclear thermal rocket into space, thanks to DRACO—the Demonstration Rocket for Agile Cislunar Orbit.
W. F. G. van Rooijen, J. L. Kloosterman, T. H. J. J. van der Hagen, H. van Dam
Nuclear Science and Engineering | Volume 157 | Number 2 | October 2007 | Pages 185-199
Technical Paper | doi.org/10.13182/NSE07-A2721
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
The Generation IV gas-cooled fast reactor (GCFR) is intended to have a closed fuel cycle: During irradiation enough fissile material is produced to allow refueling of the same reactor, adding only fertile material. This is the well-known "zero breeding gain" objective. In this paper a theoretical framework is derived to track compositional changes of the fuel during irradiation, cooldown, and reprocessing, in order to calculate the reactivity of the new fuel compared to the original fuel material. Using first-order perturbation theory, the effect of variations of the initial fuel composition on the reprocessed material and breeding gain can be calculated. The theory is applied to the fuel cycle of a 600 MW(thermal) GCFR. The result is that the change of material composition during cooldown has a nonnegligible effect on the breeding gain. A truly closed fuel cycle can be obtained if the reprocessing efficiency is high enough (<1% loss). If this high efficiency cannot be obtained, adding a small amount of minor actinides (Np, Am, Cm) to the new fuel results in a zero breeding gain. Perturbation theory provides a powerful tool to estimate the effects of changing fuel cycle parameters.