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Division Spotlight
Materials Science & Technology
The objectives of MSTD are: promote the advancement of materials science in Nuclear Science Technology; support the multidisciplines which constitute it; encourage research by providing a forum for the presentation, exchange, and documentation of relevant information; promote the interaction and communication among its members; and recognize and reward its members for significant contributions to the field of materials science in nuclear technology.
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.
Katsuro Takahashi, Yoshiaki Himeno, Nobutomo Takahashi, June Takahashi, Tatsuro Iguchi
Nuclear Technology | Volume 54 | Number 3 | September 1981 | Pages 278-285
Technical Paper | Material | doi.org/10.13182/NT81-A32772
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
Recent intensive development tests of components for liquid-metal fast breeder reactors by use of sodium test loops require a reliable and easy method to solve problems associated with cold traps plugged by a large amount of impurities. Although the functioning of the cold traps is fundamental for controlling of sodium purity in such loops, problems sometimes occur because of plugging with sodium impurities. To establish a method to remove trapped impurities in the cold trap and thus to recover its trapping capacity, a regeneration test was made. Trapped impurities in the mesh region of the cold trap were heated with sodium up to 450 to 600°C, then drained into a small tank. The regenerations were made by this method more than 14 times. Chemical analysis of drained sodium in the tank indicated that all of the regenerations made were effective, and drained impurities were collected and concentrated successfully into the tank.