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Conference Spotlight
Nuclear Energy Conference & Expo (NECX)
September 8–11, 2025
Atlanta, GA|Atlanta Marriott Marquis
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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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Nuclear Dirigo
On April 22, 1959, Rear Admiral George J. King, superintendent of the Maine Maritime Academy, announced that following the completion of the 1960 training cruise, cadets would begin the study of nuclear engineering. Courses at that time included radiation physics, reactor control and instrumentation, reactor theory and engineering, thermodynamics, shielding, core design, reactor maintenance, and nuclear aspects.
Kosuke Aizawa, Kaoru Fujita, Shingo Hirata, Naoto Kasahara
Nuclear Technology | Volume 183 | Number 1 | July 2013 | Pages 1-12
Technical Paper | Fission Reactors | doi.org/10.13182/NT13-A16988
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
A conceptual design study of Japan Sodium-cooled Fast Reactor (JSFR) is in progress in the Fast Reactor Cycle Technology Development (FaCT) project in Japan. In the design of JSFR, a selector valve mechanism is adopted for its failed-fuel detection and location (FFDL) system. Since JSFR has only two FFDL units for [approximately]600 fuel subassemblies due to its compact design of the reactor vessel, one FFDL unit must handle a much larger number of subassemblies than in previous designs. In addition, during the long plant life of 60 years, the wear length of the selector valve will become longer than those of past reactors. Therefore, the endurance of the selector valve becomes important. To demonstrate the manufacturability and endurance of the selector valve, a full-size mockup valve including coating to protect the sliding mechanism was manufactured, and an endurance experiment of the mockup model under high-temperature sodium was conducted. Dimensional inspections and seal performance showed manufacturability of the selector valve. The cross-section observation, hardness measurement, and chemical assay results after the endurance experiment showed that the coating layer on the sliding surface still remains. Thus, the endurance of the JSFR selector valve was demonstrated.