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Aerospace Nuclear Science & Technology
Organized to promote the advancement of knowledge in the use of nuclear science and technologies in the aerospace application. Specialized nuclear-based technologies and applications are needed to advance the state-of-the-art in aerospace design, engineering and operations to explore planetary bodies in our solar system and beyond, plus enhance the safety of air travel, especially high speed air travel. Areas of interest will include but are not limited to the creation of nuclear-based power and propulsion systems, multifunctional materials to protect humans and electronic components from atmospheric, space, and nuclear power system radiation, human factor strategies for the safety and reliable operation of nuclear power and propulsion plants by non-specialized personnel and more.
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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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Latest News
NRC begins special inspection at Constellation’s Quad Cities plant
The Nuclear Regulatory Commission is conducting a special inspection at Constellation’s Quad Cities nuclear plant to review two events caused by battery issues. Neither event had any impact on public health or plant workers.
John D. Bess
Nuclear Technology | Volume 177 | Number 1 | January 2012 | Pages 29-35
Technical Paper | Reactor Safety | doi.org/10.13182/NT12-A13325
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
A series of 15 critical experiments performed at the Rocky Flats Critical Mass Laboratory in the late 1960s was evaluated and then determined to represent acceptable benchmark experiments for the validation of calculational methods. This series of experiments was part of a larger set of experiments performed to evaluate operational safety margins at the Rocky Flats Plant. The experiments consisted of bare plutonium metal hemishells reflected by steel hemishells of increasing thickness and motor oil. The hemishell assembly was suspended within dual aluminum tanks. Criticality was achieved by pumping oil into the tanks such that effectively infinite reflection was achieved in all directions except directly above the assembly; then the critical oil height was recorded. The results of these experiments had been initially ignored because early computational methods had been inadequate to analyze partially reflected configurations. The dominant uncertainties include the uncertainty in the average plutonium density and the composition of materials in the gaps between the plutonium hemishells. Simple and detailed benchmark models were developed. Eigenvalue calculations using MCNP5 and ENDF/B-VII.0 were within 2 of the benchmark values. This benchmark evaluation has been added to the International Handbook of Evaluated Criticality Safety Benchmark Experiments.