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Decommissioning & Environmental Sciences
The mission of the Decommissioning and Environmental Sciences (DES) Division is to promote the development and use of those skills and technologies associated with the use of nuclear energy and the optimal management and stewardship of the environment, sustainable development, decommissioning, remediation, reutilization, and long-term surveillance and maintenance of nuclear-related installations, and sites. The target audience for this effort is the membership of the Division, the Society, and the public at large.
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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Industry Update—May 2025
Here is a recap of industry happenings from the recent past:
TerraPower’s Natrium reactor advances on several fronts
TerraPower has continued making aggressive progress in several areas for its under-construction Natrium Reactor Demonstration Project since the beginning of the year. Natrium is an advanced 345-MWe reactor that has liquid sodium as a coolant, improved fuel utilization, enhanced safety features, and an integrated energy storage system, allowing for a brief power output boost to 500-MWe if needed for grid resiliency. The company broke ground for its first Natrium plant in 2024 near a retiring coal plant in Kemmerer, Wyo.
Suresh V. Garimella, Richard N. Christensen
Nuclear Technology | Volume 89 | Number 3 | March 1990 | Pages 388-398
Technical Paper | Heat Transfer and Fluid Flow | doi.org/10.13182/NT90-A34377
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
An experimental investigation was undertaken in which transient condensation of steam-air mixtures occurred on one face of a large aluminum block of which all the other faces were insulated. Tests were conducted in a pressure vessel at pressures of up to 650 kPa. The transients were provided by a sudden increase in the vessel pressure from a given value to a much higher value by the introduction of additional steam. Temperature measurements within the block agreed well with results from a finite difference analysis of the condensing surface and block. Visual observation of the condensing surface indicated that the mode of condensation was predominantly dropwise. The dependence of the heat transfer coefficient on time, pressure, severity of the transient, percentage of noncondensables, and the driving temperature difference was studied. The results at the much higher pressures and transient conditions used in this study agreed with observations in the literature of such trends at lower pressures. There was evidence of the occurrence of a buildup of noncondensables at the condensing surface with time.