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Division Spotlight
Operations & Power
Members focus on the dissemination of knowledge and information in the area of power reactors with particular application to the production of electric power and process heat. The division sponsors meetings on the coverage of applied nuclear science and engineering as related to power plants, non-power reactors, and other nuclear facilities. It encourages and assists with the dissemination of knowledge pertinent to the safe and efficient operation of nuclear facilities through professional staff development, information exchange, and supporting the generation of viable solutions to current issues.
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
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.
A. A. Bauer, L. M. Lowry
Nuclear Technology | Volume 41 | Number 3 | December 1978 | Pages 359-372
Technical Paper | Fuel | doi.org/10.13182/NT78-A32120
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
Studies of the tensile properties of Zircaloy-4 spent fuel cladding and their change with both isothermal and transient annealing have been conducted. The cladding was obtained from spent fuel rods irradiated to a maximum fuel burnup of 30 MWd/kg in the Carolina Power and Light H.B. Robinson power reactor. The yield and ultimate strengths of the as-received material decreased linearly with temperature from room temperature to 427°C (800°F). Uniform elongation was unaffected by temperature over the same range, while total elongation increased sharply between 329 and 371°C (625 and 700°F). At 482°C (900°F), properties reflected annealing that occurred during the test. The tensile properties at 371°C (700°F) were found to be strain rate dependent. The strength properties increased with an increase in strain rate, while the total elongation decreased. Uniform elongation exhibited no effect of strain rate. Evidence of dislocation channeling was observed. When the spent fuel cladding was annealed, ra diation anneal hardening was noted during early stages in the annealing process. Annealing of irradiation-induced strengthening occurred rapidly at temperatures above 538°C (1000°F) under isothermal conditions and below 704°C (1300°F) under transient annealing conditions for heating rates of 28°C (50°F)/s or less. Ductility increases lagged the strength changes during annealing. A ductility minimum, as measured by total elongation, is not reflected in reduction-of-area measurements. The annealing behavior of cold-worked Zircaloy cladding was found to be significantly different from that of the irradiated material. Annealing was accompanied by a change in the isotropy of deformation as determined from tube wall and diameter measurements. The as-irradiated cladding exhibited essentially isotropic reductions, as opposed to the anisotropic reductions measured for both annealed cladding and unirradiated Zircaloy tubing.