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.
Explore membership for yourself or for your organization.
Conference Spotlight
2026 ANS Annual Conference
May 31–June 3, 2026
Denver, CO|Sheraton Denver
Latest Magazine Issues
Mar 2026
Jul 2025
Latest Journal Issues
Nuclear Science and Engineering
March 2026
Nuclear Technology
February 2026
Fusion Science and Technology
April 2026
Latest News
NRC approves TerraPower construction permit
Today, the Nuclear Regulatory Commission announced that it has approved TerraPower’s construction permit application for Kemmerer Unit 1, the company’s first deployment of Natrium, its flagship sodium fast reactor.
This approval is a significant milestone on three fronts. For TerraPower, it represents another step forward in demonstrating its technology. For the Department of Energy, it reflects progress (despite delays) for the Advanced Reactor Demonstration Program (ARDP). For the NRC, it is the first approval granted to a commercial reactor in nearly a decade—and the first approval of a commercial non–light water reactor in more than 40 years.
Ashish Sharma, Jeffrey Brown, Harindra J. S. Fernando
Nuclear Technology | Volume 174 | Number 1 | April 2011 | Pages 18-28
Technical Paper | One-Phase Fluid Flow | doi.org/10.13182/NT11-A11676
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
The flow distribution in a condensate demineralizer vessel of a nuclear power plant is studied using the computational fluid dynamics (CFD) approach. The model simulates the flow through the packed resin bed installed in the vessel as well as the exit of flow through the porous resin retention assembly at the bottom of the vessel. The computational model is subsequently revised to assess the impact of a proposed modification to the retention assembly to enhance drainage of the vessel and minimize unwanted resin separation during resin bed regeneration. The subject model has been developed using the ANSYS ICEM CFD meshing tool and the FLUENT 6.3 CFD software as well as associated postprocessing tools. Comparisons of flow patterns in the vessel resin beds prior to and with the modification demonstrate a sharp increase in the flow rate at the end walls of the vessel, thus resulting in accelerated depletion of resin in high-velocity areas and nonuniform consumption of resin inventory. The computational results are also compared with a theoretical analysis of the basic process.