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Division Spotlight
Robotics & Remote Systems
The Mission of the Robotics and Remote Systems Division is to promote the development and application of immersive simulation, robotics, and remote systems for hazardous environments for the purpose of reducing hazardous exposure to individuals, reducing environmental hazards and reducing the cost of performing work.
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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Nuclear Science and Engineering
June 2024
Nuclear Technology
Fusion Science and Technology
Latest News
NRC approves transfer of Vallecitos to North Star for D&D
By an order dated April 25, the Nuclear Regulatory Commission has approved the transfer of ownership of GE Hitachi Nuclear Energy’s Vallecitos Nuclear Center to NorthStar Group Services for nuclear decontamination, decommissioning, and environmental site restoration.
A. Bailly, J.-L. Lecouey, A. Billebaud, S. Chabod, A. Kochetkov, A. Krása, F.-R. Lecolley, G. Lehaut, N. Marie, N. Messaoudi, G. Vittiglio, J. Wagemans
Nuclear Science and Engineering | Volume 197 | Number 8 | August 2023 | Pages 1961-1971
Technical papers from: PHYSOR 2022 | doi.org/10.1080/00295639.2022.2148813
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
The potential use of a pulsed neutron source (PNS) to measure reactivity during nuclear fuel loading as a means to prevent core loading errors has been studied at the GUINEVERE facility. This facility couples the deuteron accelerator GENEPI-3C to the fast neutron subcritical reactor VENUS-F at the Belgian Nuclear Research Center SCK·CEN. The 14-MeV neutrons are produced in the reactor core center via fusion reactions. PNS experiments were performed in five reactor configurations corresponding to the different loading steps of VENUS-F. The evolution of the neutron flux during these PNS experiments was measured by several 235U fission chambers in various positions in the inner and outer reflector and analyzed using the area-ratio method. The results show that, despite strong spatial effects, a strong correlation between the reactivity values given by the area-ratio method and some reference reactivity values remains throughout the reactor unloading. Monte Carlo simulations were first validated by comparison with the data and then used to investigate the sensitivity of the method to a core loading error. First results show that some loading errors could be experimentally detected using a PNS.