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Division Spotlight
Operations & Power
Members focus on the dissemination of knowledge and information in the area of power reactors with particular application to the production of electric power and process heat. The division sponsors meetings on the coverage of applied nuclear science and engineering as related to power plants, non-power reactors, and other nuclear facilities. It encourages and assists with the dissemination of knowledge pertinent to the safe and efficient operation of nuclear facilities through professional staff development, information exchange, and supporting the generation of viable solutions to current issues.
Meeting Spotlight
2025 ANS Annual Conference
June 15–18, 2025
Chicago, IL|Chicago Marriott 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
High-temperature plumbing and advanced reactors
The use of nuclear fission power and its role in impacting climate change is hotly debated. Fission advocates argue that short-term solutions would involve the rapid deployment of Gen III+ nuclear reactors, like Vogtle-3 and -4, while long-term climate change impact would rely on the creation and implementation of Gen IV reactors, “inherently safe” reactors that use passive laws of physics and chemistry rather than active controls such as valves and pumps to operate safely. While Gen IV reactors vary in many ways, one thing unites nearly all of them: the use of exotic, high-temperature coolants. These fluids, like molten salts and liquid metals, can enable reactor engineers to design much safer nuclear reactors—ultimately because the boiling point of each fluid is extremely high. Fluids that remain liquid over large temperature ranges can provide good heat transfer through many demanding conditions, all with minimal pressurization. Although the most apparent use for these fluids is advanced fission power, they have the potential to be applied to other power generation sources such as fusion, thermal storage, solar, or high-temperature process heat.1–3
Wenyu Cheng, Jie Liang, Mingjun Zhang, Fei Wei, Jinglin Li, Xiaochong Xue, Youshi Zeng, Ke Deng, Qin Zhang, Wei Liu
Nuclear Science and Engineering | Volume 197 | Number 7 | July 2023 | Pages 1534-1544
Technical Paper | doi.org/10.1080/00295639.2022.2158020
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
Large amounts of tritium will inevitably be produced during operation from the Thorium Molten Salt Reactor (TMSR) fueled by lithium salt, which is detrimental to the human body. Therefore, it is necessary to evaluate the radiation dose of the generated tritium. The tritium production, emission, and radiation dose of TMSRs were estimated by numerical calculation. According to this study, a 2-MW(thermal) TMSR produces 3.33E+14 Bq·yr−1 of tritium, discharges 2.42E+13 Bq·yr−1 of tritium, and causes 1.06 μSv·yr−1 of radiation dose. A 30-MW(thermal) TMSR produces 5.00E+15 Bq·yr−1 of tritiu.m, discharges 3.62E+14 Bq·yr−1 of tritium, and causes 2.02 μSv·yr−1 of radiation dose. A 2250-MW(thermal) TMSR produces 3.75E+17 Bq·yr−1 of tritium, discharges 2.77E+16 Bq·yr−1 of tritium, and causes 79 μSv·yr−1 of radiation dose. The radiation dose of TMSRs is much less than 1 mSv·yr−1, which is the dose limit for internal recruitment in China. It is determined that TMSRs are safe for humans regarding tritium hazard.
