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Division Spotlight
Young Members Group
The Young Members Group works to encourage and enable all young professional members to be actively involved in the efforts and endeavors of the Society at all levels (Professional Divisions, ANS Governance, Local Sections, etc.) as they transition from the role of a student to the role of a professional. It sponsors non-technical workshops and meetings that provide professional development and networking opportunities for young professionals, collaborates with other Divisions and Groups in developing technical and non-technical content for topical and national meetings, encourages its members to participate in the activities of the Groups and Divisions that are closely related to their professional interests as well as in their local sections, introduces young members to the rules and governance structure of the Society, and nominates young professionals for awards and leadership opportunities available to members.
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
EnergySolutions to help explore advanced reactor development in Utah
Utah-based waste management company EnergySolutions announced that it has signed a memorandum of understating with the Intermountain Power Agency and the state of Utah to explore the development of advanced nuclear power generation at the Intermountain Power Project (IPP) site near Delta, Utah.
Junda Zhang, Tao Li, Zhirui Shen, Xiangyue Li, Jinbiao Xiong, Xiang Chai, Xiaojing Liu, Tengfei Zhang
Nuclear Science and Engineering | Volume 198 | Number 5 | May 2024 | Pages 1097-1121
Research Article | doi.org/10.1080/00295639.2023.2227838
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
This work describes the research of high-fidelity multiphysics models for the MegaPower nuclear reactor, a megawatt-level heat pipe reactor. Combining the Monte Carlo neutronics model, the heat pipe analysis model, the fuel analysis model, and the thermoelasticity model produces the Multi-Physics Coupling code for Heat pipe nuclear reactors (MPCH) code platform. Using the heat pipe analysis model, a database of heat pipes is generated to save computing costs. Comparison is made among four calculating modes with differing degrees of coupling. It was discovered that the thermal expansion effect reduces core reactivity by 537 ± 11 pcm and the temperature feedback coefficient by 61%. With the incorporation of the heat pipe module, a temperature difference arises between the wall of heat pipes, which can reach a maximum value of 80 K at steady state. Simultaneously, the global fuel rod temperature difference increases from 34 K (under the assumption of uniform heat pipe wall temperature) to 93 K, and the monolith temperature variance increases from 34 to 108 K. At the periphery of the monolith, the increased temperature variation causes a monolithic stress of 188.6 MPa. To further investigate the safety of the reactor, three-heat-pipe-failure scenarios are evaluated. The heat pipe analysis model reveals that a single heat pipe failure results in a monolith peak temperature of 1046 K, giving a maximum monolith stress of 237 MPa. The maximum monolith stresses and temperatures for the two-heat-pipe-failure scenario and the three-heat pipe-failure scenario are 330 MPa/1128 K and 471 MPa/1233 K, respectively. In steady-state operation, the stresses exceed the yield tensile strength (131MPa) whereas those generated by the failure of three heat pipes exceed the ultimate tensile strength (345 MPa) in high temperature. These results illustrate the necessity of including coupled multiphysics models into the design and safety evaluation of innovative nuclear reactors.