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Division Spotlight
Reactor Physics
The division's objectives are to promote the advancement of knowledge and understanding of the fundamental physical phenomena characterizing nuclear reactors and other nuclear systems. The division encourages research and disseminates information through meetings and publications. Areas of technical interest include nuclear data, particle interactions and transport, reactor and nuclear systems analysis, methods, design, validation and operating experience and standards. The Wigner Award heads the awards program.
Meeting Spotlight
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
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!
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Latest News
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.
Lance J. Agee
Nuclear Technology | Volume 128 | Number 2 | November 1999 | Pages 131-138
Technical Paper | RETRAN | doi.org/10.13182/NT99-A3020
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
An overview is presented of the important RETRAN related events that have occurred since the previous International RETRAN Conference, which was held in October 1995. First, an overview is given of the general state of the industry, focusing on problems with the implementation of new reactor fuels and the formation at the Electric Power Research Institute (EPRI) of the Robust Fuel Program. Second, the conclusion from the EPRI-sponsored design review of RETRAN-3D is given, as well as the status of RETRAN related licensing submittals to the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission and the current status of the RETRAN-3D licensing submittal. Third, GPU Nuclear Corporation's use of RETRAN-3D and a cross-comparison of RETRAN-02 licensing analyses for all Three Mile Island Chapter 14 (Chapter 15 for most plants) events are summarized. Fourth, a vision of the future is outlined, which includes the evolving integration of EPRI codes into interactive suites similar to CPM-3, CORETRAN, and RETRAN-3D. Also outlined are the evolution of RETRAN for balance-of-plant analysis, supporting CHECWORKS leak applications, and the use of the thermal-hydraulic engine in operator training simulators.
