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.
Ernest E. Hill, Frederick J. Shon
Nuclear Science and Engineering | Volume 11 | Number 2 | October 1961 | Pages 105-110
Technical Paper | doi.org/10.13182/NSE61-A28053
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
This paper presents a fuel cycle program for an intermediate power research reactor utilizing fully enriched MTR type fuel elements. The fuel cycle program is considered at equilibrium after many cycles have past. The program consists of shifting elements from positions of high importance outward to positions of low importance through several paths. The paths are staggered so that only the elements in one path are shifted at the conclusion of a cycle, and only one element is replaced. The method of calculating the fuel remaining in each element is shown utilizing a fractional burn-up factor for each position. Sample calculations are shown for the LPTR with 23 standard elements in the core and a desired burn-up of 15%. A method is proposed to obtain such an equilibrium condition starting with an initial loading of fuel elements having nearly equal fuel loading.