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Aerospace Nuclear Science & Technology
Organized to promote the advancement of knowledge in the use of nuclear science and technologies in the aerospace application. Specialized nuclear-based technologies and applications are needed to advance the state-of-the-art in aerospace design, engineering and operations to explore planetary bodies in our solar system and beyond, plus enhance the safety of air travel, especially high speed air travel. Areas of interest will include but are not limited to the creation of nuclear-based power and propulsion systems, multifunctional materials to protect humans and electronic components from atmospheric, space, and nuclear power system radiation, human factor strategies for the safety and reliable operation of nuclear power and propulsion plants by non-specialized personnel and more.
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International Conference on Mathematics and Computational Methods Applied to Nuclear Science and Engineering (M&C 2025)
April 27–30, 2025
Denver, CO|The Westin Denver Downtown
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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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Dragonfly, a Pu-fueled drone heading to Titan, gets key NASA approval
Curiosity landed on Mars sporting a radioisotope thermoelectric generator (RTG) in 2012, and a second NASA rover, Perseverance, landed in 2021. Both are still rolling across the red planet in the name of science. Another exploratory craft with a similar plutonium-238–fueled RTG but a very different mission—to fly between multiple test sites on Titan, Saturn’s largest moon—recently got one step closer to deployment.
On April 25, NASA and the Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory (APL) announced that the Dragonfly mission to Saturn’s icy moon passed its critical design review. “Passing this mission milestone means that Dragonfly’s mission design, fabrication, integration, and test plans are all approved, and the mission can now turn its attention to the construction of the spacecraft itself,” according to NASA.
Michitsugu Mori
Nuclear Technology | Volume 121 | Number 3 | March 1998 | Pages 245-259
Technical Paper | RETRAN | doi.org/10.13182/NT98-A2837
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
Verification and validation analyses of the RETRAN-03 code have been conducted by simulating the startup tests of a BWR-5 plant with the measured data from the 1100-MW(electric) boiling water reactor (BWR) of Tokyo Electric Power Company's nuclear power station. The comparison of results calculated by RETRAN-03 to BWR-5 measured data shows good agreement in tests changing reactor pressure and water-level setpoints and in primary-loop-recirculation (PLR) pump trip, main steam isolation valve (MSIV) closure, and generator load rejection tests. The calculated water level behavior could be well tracked with BWR-5 data. The effect of initial mixed-water level in a separator on the prediction of reactor water level was examined. Sensitivity analyses for the four- and the five-equation models were performed for a one-PLR-pump trip test, an all-MSIV closure test, and a generator load rejection test with 100% bypass. Such mild transients as startup tests show no distinct difference between the four- and the five-equation models. The various kinds of simulation with the start-up phase tests in changing pressure, water level, and power by transient could verify the RETRAN-03 model and validate the code.
