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Division Spotlight
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.
Meeting Spotlight
International Conference on Mathematics and Computational Methods Applied to Nuclear Science and Engineering (M&C 2025)
April 27–30, 2025
Denver, CO|The Westin Denver 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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Latest News
Argonne’s METL gears up to test more sodium fast reactor components
Argonne National Laboratory has successfully swapped out an aging cold trap in the sodium test loop called METL (Mechanisms Engineering Test Loop), the Department of Energy announced April 23. The upgrade is the first of its kind in the United States in more than 30 years, according to the DOE, and will help test components and operations for the sodium-cooled fast reactors being developed now.
K. P. Singh, S. B. Degweker
Nuclear Science and Engineering | Volume 177 | Number 2 | June 2014 | Pages 126-140
Technical Paper | doi.org/10.13182/NSE13-39
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
Measurement and monitoring of the degree of subcriticality of accelerator-driven systems (ADSs) are essential safety requirements to ensure that such systems remain subcritical during operation and shutdown. In recent years, a number of methods for measuring and monitoring subcriticality in ADSs have been studied around the world. Many low-power experiments have been performed, and still others are planned. Similar experiments are being planned at the Bhabha Atomic Research Centre. One general class of these techniques is based on neutron noise theory. As a part of the experimental planning, we have carried out simulations of the proposed noise experiments using a Monte Carlo–based neutron diffusion code developed for this purpose. These simulations have provided us with valuable information about the feasibility of the proposed experiments and the kind of accuracy that can be expected from such measurements. Since a diffusion theory–based Monte Carlo code has its own limitations, a more accurate description will be provided by transport theory–based analog Monte Carlo. The present paper discusses the development of such a code specifically intended for simulating the noise-based experiments, such as Rossi-alpha and Feynman-alpha. The code is based on the delta neutron tracking method (also called the Woodcock and Coleman method), which results in fast and relatively simple handling of complex geometries. The code has been validated with a few criticality and noise benchmark problems. The paper also presents results of simulations of the proposed ADS noise experiments at the Purnima facility obtained using the code.