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.
Explore membership for yourself or for your organization.
Conference Spotlight
2026 Nuclear Energy Conference & Expo (NECX)
August 24–27, 2026
Dallas, TX|Hilton Anatole
Latest Magazine Issues
Aug 2026
Jan 2026
2026
Latest Journal Issues
Nuclear Science and Engineering
September 2026
Nuclear Technology
Fusion Science and Technology
August 2026
Latest News
Undeclared uranium hitches a ride on cobalt exports from Congo, study says
Philippe (left) and Manzuk quantified the amount of uranium that has been exported from the DRC in cobalt shipments or left behind in the environment. (Photo: Joel Hallberg/UW–Madison)
Researchers at the University of Wisconsin–Madison and Princeton University have published a study in Nature Communications that calls attention to a blind spot in nuclear nonproliferation: The Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) has exported thousands of metric tons of uranium, and there is no accounting for where it has gone.
In partnership with Lighthouse Reports and the Financial Times, UW–Madison nuclear engineering professor and nuclear security expert Sébastien Philippe and Ryan Manzuk, a geologist and research fellow in Philippe’s group and at Princeton, conducted the study using countrywide mineralization and geochemical data.
Benjamin R. Hanna, Daniel F. Gill, David P. Griesheimer
Nuclear Technology | Volume 183 | Number 3 | September 2013 | Pages 367-378
Technical Paper | Fission Reactors | doi.org/10.13182/NT13-A19425
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
An integrated thermal-hydraulic feedback module has previously been developed for the Monte Carlo transport solver MC21. The module incorporates a flexible input format that allows the user to describe heat transfer and coolant flow paths within the geometric model at any level of spatial detail desired. The effect that the varying levels of spatial homogenization of thermal regions has on the accuracy of the Monte Carlo simulations is examined in this study. Six thermal feedback mappings are constructed from the same geometric model of the Calvert Cliffs core. The spatial homogenization of the thermal regions is varied, giving each scheme a different level of detail, and the adequacy of the spatial homogenization is determined based on the eigenvalue produced by each Monte Carlo calculation. The purpose of these numerical experiments is to determine the level of detail necessary to accurately capture the thermal feedback effect on reactivity. Several different core models are considered: axial flow only, axial and lateral flow, asymmetry due to control rod insertion, and fuel heating (temperature-dependent cross sections). The thermal results generated by the MC21 thermal feedback module are consistent with expectations. Based on the numerical experiments conducted, it is concluded that the amount of spatial detail necessary to accurately capture the feedback effect on reactivity is relatively small. Homogenization at the assembly level for the Calvert Cliffs pressurized water reactor model results in a power defect similar to that calculated with individual pin cells modeled as explicit thermal regions.