ANS is committed to advancing, fostering, and promoting the development and application of nuclear sciences and technologies to benefit society.
Explore the many uses for nuclear science and its impact on energy, the environment, healthcare, food, and more.
Explore membership for yourself or for your organization.
Conference Spotlight
2026 ANS Annual Conference
May 31–June 3, 2026
Denver, CO|Sheraton Denver
Latest Magazine Issues
Mar 2026
Jul 2025
Latest Journal Issues
Nuclear Science and Engineering
March 2026
Nuclear Technology
February 2026
Fusion Science and Technology
April 2026
Latest News
NRC approves TerraPower construction permit
Today, the Nuclear Regulatory Commission announced that it has approved TerraPower’s construction permit application for Kemmerer Unit 1, the company’s first deployment of Natrium, its flagship sodium fast reactor.
This approval is a significant milestone on three fronts. For TerraPower, it represents another step forward in demonstrating its technology. For the Department of Energy, it reflects progress (despite delays) for the Advanced Reactor Demonstration Program (ARDP). For the NRC, it is the first approval granted to a commercial reactor in nearly a decade—and the first approval of a commercial non–light water reactor in more than 40 years.
Dmitry V. Paramonov, Mohamed S. El-Genk
Nuclear Technology | Volume 108 | Number 2 | November 1994 | Pages 157-170
Technical Paper | Fission Reactor | doi.org/10.13182/NT94-A35027
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
An integrated model of the TOPAZ-II space nuclear reactor system is developed and compared with measurements from the TOPAZ-II, V-71 unit tests. For a given reactor thermal power, the model calculates the coolant flow rate, temperature, and pressure throughout the system; load electric power; and overall system efficiency. Model predictions showed good agreement with the experimental data. The calculated coolant temperatures and pressure are within 15 K (<2%) and 12% of the measurements, respectively. Analysis showed that at the nominal operating thermal power of the system (115 kW), the NaK coolant is highly subcooled. The largest subcooling of 365 K occurs at the exit of the electromagnetic pump, where coolant pressure is highest, and the lowest subcooling of 275 K occurs at the exit of the reactor core, where coolant temperature is highest.