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Nuclear Criticality Safety
NCSD provides communication among nuclear criticality safety professionals through the development of standards, the evolution of training methods and materials, the presentation of technical data and procedures, and the creation of specialty publications. In these ways, the division furthers the exchange of technical information on nuclear criticality safety with the ultimate goal of promoting the safe handling of fissionable materials outside reactors.
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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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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.
John L. Glazik, Jr., Henry J. Petroski
Nuclear Technology | Volume 51 | Number 3 | December 1980 | Pages 317-331
Technical Paper | Mechanics Applications to Fast Breeder Reactor Safety / Reactor | doi.org/10.13182/NT80-A32570
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
The dynamic elastic response of flawed and unflawed fast reactor subassembly ducts has been studied. Finite elements were used for a plane-strain analysis of hexagonal ducts containing either internal corner cracks or external midflat cracks. Two geometric loading conditions were considered: uniform internal pressurization and point loads applied at opposite midflats. The time dependence of these loads was chosen as a Heaviside step function for the worst case situation and as a triangular pulse to simulate the more likely condition. The presence of cracks in the duct walls alters the dynamic response of the duct. Although the vibrational mode associated with the response of an uncracked duct is always present, the appearance of different flexural modes and their frequencies depend on the number, depth, and location of cracks. The influence of the modal participation on the crack-tip stress-intensity factor is complex, but upper bounds are estimated for the dynamic effects.