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Conference Spotlight
2025 ANS Winter Conference & Expo
November 9–12, 2025
Washington, DC|Washington Hilton
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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
The current status of heat pipe R&D
Idaho National Laboratory under the Department of Energy–sponsored Microreactor Program recently conducted a comprehensive phenomena identification and ranking table (PIRT) exercise aimed at advancing heat pipe technology for microreactor applications.
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.