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Division Spotlight
Materials Science & Technology
The objectives of MSTD are: promote the advancement of materials science in Nuclear Science Technology; support the multidisciplines which constitute it; encourage research by providing a forum for the presentation, exchange, and documentation of relevant information; promote the interaction and communication among its members; and recognize and reward its members for significant contributions to the field of materials science in nuclear technology.
Meeting Spotlight
2024 ANS Annual Conference
June 16–19, 2024
Las Vegas, NV|Mandalay Bay Resort and Casino
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
IAEA promoting nuclear energy with G20
The International Atomic Energy Agency launched a collaboration with the Group of 20 this week to highlight the key role that nuclear energy can play in achieving energy security and climate-change goals.
The aim of this first-of-its-kind partnership with G20—the world’s largest economic group—is to build momentum for nuclear power. This is the first time the IAEA has presented to G20 on issues relating to nuclear power.
Junghyun Bae, Robert S. Bean
Nuclear Science and Engineering | Volume 196 | Number 10 | October 2022 | Pages 1224-1235
Technical Paper | doi.org/10.1080/00295639.2022.2055700
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
In pool-type research reactors, the fuel core is placed in a large open pool of water, and it is consistently cooled by natural circulation. To meet the increasing demands of reactor-based research, i.e., neutron irradiation and isotope production, many institutes have been considering upgrading the designed power levels of their research reactors to maximize their utility. However, increasing operating power levels without replacing the major components of the reactor system is challenging because two important analyses must be extensively performed: (1) neutron transport analysis for nuclear fission and decay heat generation and (2) thermohydraulic analysis for heat removal in the core. In this paper, we investigate thermohydraulic limits on the maximum power of the Purdue University research reactor (PUR-1) using computational fluid dynamics (CFD) simulations which are coupled with the results from Monte Carlo neutron transport simulations. We design a PUR-1 fuel assembly, which is designated as the hottest one for CFD simulations, that includes a narrow, rectangular, and upward coolant channel. Here we demonstrate that the thermohydraulic limit for PUR-1 core power is 350 kW without changing the coolant system. Given a conservative safety margin, however, the estimated maximum power level is decreased to 170 kW. In the end, the results of two additional cooling systems—guide pipe and lowered coolant temperature—are presented to demonstrate the potential of advanced cooling capacity. They would enable reactors to operate at higher core power levels.