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.
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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May 2025
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Nuclear Science and Engineering
July 2025
Nuclear Technology
June 2025
Fusion Science and Technology
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
Ajoy Debbarma
Nuclear Science and Engineering | Volume 199 | Number 7 | July 2025 | Pages 1213-1230
Research Article | doi.org/10.1080/00295639.2024.2438568
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
This study investigates the rewetting behavior of an Advanced Heavy Water Reactor (AHWR) fuel rod bundle during a loss-of-coolant accident using computational fluid dynamics simulations with ANSYS CFX. The analysis focuses on the cooling effectiveness of radial jet impingement at varying flow rates and its impact on rewetting temperature and wetting delay. Simulations were conducted by maintaining a constant initial wall temperature, with cooling curves and contour profiles extracted from various angular positions along the axial rod surfaces. The results reveal that rewetting is faster near the jet sections due to enhanced coolant interaction, while areas farther from the jets exhibit delayed wetting and elevated wall temperatures, where vapor accumulation hinders heat dissipation. Higher flow rates minimize wetting delays and improve cooling by promoting transition and nucleate boiling. However, irregular coolant splashing and vapor dominance disrupt the uniformity of rewetting across the bundle. The study highlights the limited impact of increased flow rates on achieving consistent rewetting along the entire rod length, with substantial fluctuations observed in cooling performance at different vertical positions. The findings emphasize the need for further research under high-temperature steam conditions to better understand boiling mechanisms and improve the stability of emergency cooling systems in nuclear reactors.