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Division Spotlight
Fusion Energy
This division promotes the development and timely introduction of fusion energy as a sustainable energy source with favorable economic, environmental, and safety attributes. The division cooperates with other organizations on common issues of multidisciplinary fusion science and technology, conducts professional meetings, and disseminates technical information in support of these goals. Members focus on the assessment and resolution of critical developmental issues for practical fusion energy applications.
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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May 2025
Latest News
Argonne’s METL gears up to test more sodium fast reactor components
Argonne National Laboratory has successfully swapped out an aging cold trap in the sodium test loop called METL (Mechanisms Engineering Test Loop), the Department of Energy announced April 23. The upgrade is the first of its kind in the United States in more than 30 years, according to the DOE, and will help test components and operations for the sodium-cooled fast reactors being developed now.
Eberhard Teuchert, Hans Joachim Rütten, Heinz Werner
Nuclear Technology | Volume 38 | Number 3 | May 1978 | Pages 374-383
Technical Paper | Fuel Cycle | doi.org/10.13182/NT78-A32035
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
For the pebble-bed high-temperature reactor, a wide choice is available for the design of the fuel elements and for the reactor fueling scheme. This flexibility has been utilized for the conception of different possibilities for the closure of the thorium fuel cycle. The easiest scheme is mixed-oxide recycling with repeated recycling of 236U. Loading recycle fuel into separate elements without thorium reduces the uranium ore demand by 13%. Entire separation of the feed and breed circuits brings another reduction of 5%. Furthermore, the feed-breed cycle allows the production of 233U for the near-breeder variant. This variant achieves a conversion ratio of 0.97, and it represents a possible choice for efficient protection of uranium ore resources. Within the span of uncertainties in the cost assumptions, fuel cycle costs are found to be comparable for all considered cycles, including the near-breeder.
