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Reactor Physics
The division's objectives are to promote the advancement of knowledge and understanding of the fundamental physical phenomena characterizing nuclear reactors and other nuclear systems. The division encourages research and disseminates information through meetings and publications. Areas of technical interest include nuclear data, particle interactions and transport, reactor and nuclear systems analysis, methods, design, validation and operating experience and standards. The Wigner Award heads the awards program.
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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
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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.
G. Kocamustafaogullari, S. H. Chan
Nuclear Technology | Volume 63 | Number 1 | October 1983 | Pages 23-39
Technical Paper | Nuclear Safety | doi.org/10.13182/NT83-A33300
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
Consideration is given to a fuel-dominated bubble, which is assumed to have just penetrated into the sodium pool in a spherical form subsequent to a hypothetical core disruptive accident. The two-phase bubble mixture is formulated as it rises through the sodium pool to the cover-gas region. The formulation takes into account the effects of the nonequilibrium mass transfer at the interfaces and of the radiative cooling of the bubble as well as the kinematic, dynamic, and thermal effects of the surrounding fields. The results of calculation for the amount of the fuel vapor condensed before the bubble reaches the cover-gas region are presented over a wide possible range of the evaporation coefficient as well as the liquid sodium-bubble interface absorbtivity. It is shown that the effects of nonequilibrium mass transfer become more meaningful at the later stage of bubble rise where the temperature difference between the liquid fuel and the gaseous mixture has been increased. The thermal radiative cooling is found to be very effective in attenuating the fuel content of the bubble; depending on the value of the liquid sodium-bubble absorbtivity, a great reduction of fuel vapor can result. Consequently, if the condensed fuel falls out of the bubble, the thermal radiation, which condenses out most of the fuel vapor, can effectively prevent and eliminate most of the fuel leakage from the reactor vessel.