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
Jun 2026
Jan 2026
2026
Latest Journal Issues
Nuclear Science and Engineering
August 2026
Nuclear Technology
July 2026
Fusion Science and Technology
Latest News
Launching into tomorrow: NRIC guides new era of research and deployment
In June 2025, the Department of Energy announced the Reactor Pilot Program, an authorization pathway that allowed reactor developers to partner with the DOE to get first-of-a-kind (FOAK) reactors built and tested. Soon after, the DOE rolled out a complementary Fuel Line Pilot Program, which aimed to fast-track fuel projects. In all, 20 projects were accepted into the new programs.
Jiaxuan Tang, Daogang Lu, Jiangtao Liang, Xiangfeng Ma, Yizhe Liu, Shangshang Ye, Zihan Xia, Yuhao Zhang
Nuclear Science and Engineering | Volume 195 | Number 5 | May 2021 | Pages 478-495
Technical Paper | doi.org/10.1080/00295639.2020.1834314
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
The complex structure of a pool-type sodium-cooled fast reactor may lead to uncertainty and asymmetry of flow and temperature field distributions under a pump stuck accident. This phenomenon has obvious three-dimensional (3-D) thermal-hydraulic characteristics and cannot be analyzed by one-dimensional or two-dimensional models. Previous research has been limited and lacking of 3-D numerical data. Therefore, the commercial computational fluid dynamics software FLUENT is used to simulate a full-scale 3-D integrated model of the China Experimental Fast Reactor (CEFR) in order to obtain 3-D thermal-hydraulic characteristics of key structures and components in the pool-type sodium-cooled fast reactor under a pump stuck accident in the primary loop. The results show that a special asymmetrical backflow phenomenon may occur in the pressure tube and the intermediate heat exchangers (IHXs) of the failure loop under the accident, further leading to complicated flow and thermal characteristics in both the hot and the cold pools. There is obvious thermal stratification and asymmetric temperature distribution, within a temperature difference of more than 90°C between the different loops’ IHX outlet. The temperature difference between the upper and lower areas of the baffles is 20°C to 105°C. This research provides a detailed reference for engineering design and operation.