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Conference Spotlight
Nuclear Energy Conference & Expo (NECX)
September 8–11, 2025
Atlanta, GA|Atlanta Marriott Marquis
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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DOE fast tracks test reactor projects: What to know
The Department of Energy today unveiled 10 companies racing to bring test reactors online by next year to meet Trump's deadline of next Independance Day, leveraging a new DOE pathway that allows reactor authorization outside national labs. As first outlined in one of the four executive orders on nuclear energy released by President Trump on May 23 and in the request for applications for the Reactor Pilot Program released June 18, the companies must use their own money and sites—and DOE authorization—to get reactors operating. What they won’t need is a Nuclear Regulatory Commission license.
Philip T. Choong, Edward A. Mason
Nuclear Technology | Volume 12 | Number 1 | September 1971 | Pages 127-136
Technical Paper | Aerospace | doi.org/10.13182/NT71-A15905
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
A conceptual two-stage microthruster employing sublimed molecules as the propellant of the first stage and alpha particles as the propellant of the second stage is analyzed. Transient thermal analysis is developed as a tool to provide design information on material compositions. The numerical result suggests that the radioisotope heating of the nozzle wall could help flatten the subliming surface temperature. The modified Monte Carlo technique for analyzing the vapor flow through the nozzle is shown to be very accurate and flexible. The result clearly points the direction to follow to optimize the performance. Applications of this device are particularly suited in the spin stabilization and the precession damping of small scientific probes.