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Denver, CO|Sheraton Denver
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January 2026
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Fusion energy: Progress, partnerships, and the path to deployment
Over the past decade, fusion energy has moved decisively from scientific aspiration toward a credible pathway to a new energy technology. Thanks to long-term federal support, we have significantly advanced our fundamental understanding of plasma physics—the behavior of the superheated gases at the heart of fusion devices. This knowledge will enable the creation and control of fusion fuel under conditions required for future power plants. Our progress is exemplified by breakthroughs at the National Ignition Facility and the Joint European Torus.
A. M. Lewis, V. Sobes, D. Neudecker, N. Gibson, W. Fritsch
Nuclear Science and Engineering | Volume 200 | Number 3 | March 2026 | Pages 489-501
Research Article | doi.org/10.1080/00295639.2025.2489769
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
An analytic benchmark with continuous-energy cross sections was previously derived to validate criticality calculations.To extend the utility of the analytic benchmark to verify the implementation of and prompt fission neutron spectrum (PFNS) uncertainty propagation methods, new simplified forms that are dependent on the incident (fission-causing) neutron energy, as well as the outgoing neutron energy for the PFNS, are introduced in this work. The analytical forms for the flux and adjoint flux are derived for the extended benchmark and used to determine the -eigenvalue sensitivity to and PFNS. The -eigenvalue uncertainty due to and PFNS is calculated for the analytic benchmark using simplified and PFNS representations based on the ENDF-B/VIII.0 239Pu evaluation. Because of the low sensitivity of the analytic benchmark to the physical PFNS, a nonphysical high-sensitivity PFNS is also presented.