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2026 ANS Annual Conference
May 31–June 3, 2026
Denver, CO|Sheraton Denver
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Christmas Light
’Twas the night before Christmas when all through the house
No electrons were flowing through even my mouse.
All devices were plugged by the chimney with care
With the hope that St. Nikola Tesla would share.
Hans Gransell, R. Höglund
Nuclear Technology | Volume 38 | Number 1 | April 1978 | Pages 144-154
Technical Paper | Low-Temperature Nuclear Heat / Reactor | doi.org/10.13182/NT78-A16167
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
The SECURE reactor was developed by a Finnish-Swedish project group in 1976–1977. It is a small low-pressure and low-temperature nuclear plant for district heating purposes. The special safety requirements for a reactor of this kind have led to an unconventional design with certain inherent safety features to guarantee safe shutdown without the use of any active components. The reactor is located inside a large, slightly pressurized pool containing cold water with about 1000 ppm natural boron. On shutdown, the pool water flows into the primary system to keep the reactor subcritical. Boron is also used for power control, whereas burnup is compensated for by use of the burnable absorber Gd2O3.