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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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Researchers use one-of-a-kind expertise and capabilities to test fuels of tomorrow
At the Idaho National Laboratory Hot Fuel Examination Facility, containment box operator Jake Maupin moves a manipulator arm into position around a pencil-thin nuclear fuel rod. He is preparing for a procedure that he and his colleagues have practiced repeatedly in anticipation of this moment in the hot cell.
O. C. Kolar, H. F. Finn, N. L. Pruvost
Nuclear Technology | Volume 29 | Number 1 | April 1976 | Pages 57-72
Technical Paper | Fuel Cycle | doi.org/10.13182/NT76-A16290
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
The first precision array measurements with high-density plutonium-metal cylindrical parts of 3 and 6 kg took place at the Livermore Critical Assembly Facility from 1965 to 1969. Cubic arrays of up to sixty-four 6-kg parts were measured. Mock high-explosive epoxy moderators were used in several measurements. Experiments observing the effects of simulated body reflectors provided personnel safety guidance for the construction of these arrays. A comparison of Monte Carlo calculations and the experimental measurements indicated that the calculational method is sufficiently accurate to be used in nuclear safety guidance for arrays of these elements. Included for comparison are calculations for arrays comprised solely of the plutonium parts. Also included are calculations for 6-kg-part arrays in which a 0.479-cm-wide gap at the midplane has been eliminated and where the spacing was varied for each idealized array.