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Division Spotlight
Accelerator Applications
The division was organized to promote the advancement of knowledge of the use of particle accelerator technologies for nuclear and other applications. It focuses on production of neutrons and other particles, utilization of these particles for scientific or industrial purposes, such as the production or destruction of radionuclides significant to energy, medicine, defense or other endeavors, as well as imaging and diagnostics.
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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Nuclear Technology
Fusion Science and Technology
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.
M. M. H. Ragheb, R. T. Santoro, J. M. Barnes, M. J. Saltmarsh
Nuclear Technology | Volume 48 | Number 3 | May 1980 | Pages 216-232
Technical Paper | Reactor | doi.org/10.13182/NT80-A32469
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
The nuclear performance of a fusion-fission hybrid reactor having a molten salt composed of Na-Th-F-Be as the blanket fertile material and operating with a catalyzed deuterium-deuterium (DD) plasma is compared to a similar system utilizing a Li-Th-F-Be salt and operating with a deuterium-tritium (DT) plasma. The production of fissile fuel via the 232Th-233U fuel cycle was considered on the basis of its potential nonproliferation aspects. The calculations were performed using one-dimensional discrete-ordinates methods to compare neutron balances, fuel production rates, energy deposition rates, and the radiation damage in the reactor structure. The results indicate that the sodium salt in conjunction with the catalyzed DD plasma represents a viable alternative to the lithium salt and DT plasma. In a reactor consisting of a 42-cm-thick salt compartment followed by a 40-cm-thick graphite reflector, the sodium-salt-catalyzed-DD system exhibits a higher fissile nuclide production potential via Th(n,γ) reactions (0.880 reaction/source neutron) than the lithium-salt-DT system (0.737 reaction/source neutron) without the additional complication of tritium production in the blanket. Energy and material balances for driven fusion systems show that the DT and catalyzed DD options have comparable performances in terms of their capability to support fission reactor satellites with their fissile fuel needs.