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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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August 2025
Latest News
New coolants, new fuels: A new generation of university reactors
Here’s an easy way to make aging U.S. power reactors look relatively youthful: Compare them (average age: 43) with the nation’s university research reactors. The 25 operating today have been licensed for an average of about 58 years.
James E. Struve, Nick Tsoulfanidis
Nuclear Technology | Volume 21 | Number 3 | March 1974 | Pages 201-207
Technical Paper | Material | doi.org/10.13182/NT74-A31390
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
Calculations of the tritium breeding ratio and heating rates for two proposed blanket designs are obtained by using the Monte Carlo method. The materials used for the blanket are vanadium and lithium. Lithium is used to slow down the neutrons and produce tritium by the He and He reactions. Vanadium is used as the structural material. Results obtained indicate that a tritium breeding ratio of 1.3 is easily obtained by either design and that the heating rates for both designs are similar. These results are in general agreement with previous studies of fusion reactor blankets which used niobium as the structural material.