ANS is committed to advancing, fostering, and promoting the development and application of nuclear sciences and technologies to benefit society.
Explore the many uses for nuclear science and its impact on energy, the environment, healthcare, food, and more.
Division Spotlight
Materials Science & Technology
The objectives of MSTD are: promote the advancement of materials science in Nuclear Science Technology; support the multidisciplines which constitute it; encourage research by providing a forum for the presentation, exchange, and documentation of relevant information; promote the interaction and communication among its members; and recognize and reward its members for significant contributions to the field of materials science in nuclear technology.
Meeting Spotlight
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!
Latest Magazine Issues
Jun 2025
Jan 2025
Latest Journal Issues
Nuclear Science and Engineering
July 2025
Nuclear Technology
Fusion Science and Technology
Latest News
Smarter waste strategies: Helping deliver on the promise of advanced nuclear
At COP28, held in Dubai in 2023, a clear consensus emerged: Nuclear energy must be a cornerstone of the global clean energy transition. With electricity demand projected to soar as we decarbonize not just power but also industry, transport, and heat, the case for new nuclear is compelling. More than 20 countries committed to tripling global nuclear capacity by 2050. In the United States alone, the Department of Energy forecasts that the country’s current nuclear capacity could more than triple, adding 200 GW of new nuclear to the existing 95 GW by mid-century.
Mohamed A. Abdou
Nuclear Technology | Volume 29 | Number 1 | April 1976 | Pages 7-36
Technical Paper | Reactor | doi.org/10.13182/NT76-A16287
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
The various options and trade-offs in the nuclear design of the blanket/shield for a Tokamak Experimental Power Reactor (TEPR) are investigated. The TEPR size and cost are particularly sensitive to the blanket/shield thickness, ΔBS, on the inner side of the torus. Radiation damage to the components of the superconducting magnet and refrigeration power requirements set lower limits on ΔBS. These limits are developed in terms of TEPR desigpi parameters such as the wall loading, duty cycle, and frequency of magnet anneals. The study of the nuclear performance of various material compositions shows that mixtures of tungsten, or tantalum, or stainless-steel alloys and boron carbide require the smallest ΔBS for a given attenuation. This ΔBS has to be doubled if the low induced activation materials graphite and aluminum are used. The space problems are greatly eased in the Argonne National Laboratory ANL-TEPR reference design by using two separate segments of the blanket/shield. The inner segment occupies the region of the high magnetic field, uses very efficient attenuators (tungsten- or tantalum- or stainless-steel-boron carbide mixtures), and is only 1 m thick. The outer blanket/shield is 131 cm and consists of an optimized composition of stainless steel and boron carbide. For the design parameters of 0.2 MW/m2 neutron wall loading and 50% duty cycle, the reactor components can operate satisfactorily up to (a) 10 yr for the stainless-steel first wall, (b) 10 yr for the superconductor composite after which magnet warmup becomes necessary, and (c) 30 yr for the Mylar insulation. Nuclear heat generation rates in the blanket/shield and magnet are well within the practical limits for heat removal.
