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Conference Spotlight
2025 ANS Winter Conference & Expo
November 8–12, 2025
Washington, DC|Washington Hilton
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
DNFSB’s Summers ends board tenure, extending agency’s loss of quorum
Lee
Summers
The Defense Nuclear Facilities Safety Board, the independent agency responsible for ensuring that Department of Energy facilities are protective of public health and safety, announced that the board’s acting chairman, Thomas Summers, has concluded his service with the agency, having completed his second term as a board member on October 18.
Summers’ departure leaves Patricia Lee, who joined the DNFSB after being confirmed by the Senate in July 2024, as the board’s only remaining member and acting chair. Lee’s DNFSB board term ends in October 2027.
Janne Wallenius, Erdenechimeg Suvdantsetseg, Andrei Fokau
Nuclear Technology | Volume 177 | Number 3 | March 2012 | Pages 303-313
Technical Paper | Fission Reactors | doi.org/10.13182/NT12-A13477
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
The design of a low-power fast neutron reactor cooled by liquid lead (ELECTRA) is presented. Application of (Pu,Zr)N fuel permits the design of a core with very small volume and fuel column height, resulting in highly negative coolant, fuel, and structure temperature coefficients and very low channel pressure drop. Full design power of 0.5 MW(thermal) may be completely removed by natural circulation in the primary circuit, thus eliminating the need for pumps. Analysis of flow stability and performance under unprotected transients show that the suggested design is very safe, supporting its intended use for training and educational purposes.