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Division Spotlight
Operations & Power
Members focus on the dissemination of knowledge and information in the area of power reactors with particular application to the production of electric power and process heat. The division sponsors meetings on the coverage of applied nuclear science and engineering as related to power plants, non-power reactors, and other nuclear facilities. It encourages and assists with the dissemination of knowledge pertinent to the safe and efficient operation of nuclear facilities through professional staff development, information exchange, and supporting the generation of viable solutions to current issues.
Meeting Spotlight
2024 ANS Annual Conference
June 16–19, 2024
Las Vegas, NV|Mandalay Bay Resort and Casino
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
Securing the advanced reactor fleet
Physical protection accounts for a significant portion of a nuclear power plant’s operational costs. As the U.S. moves toward smaller and safer advanced reactors, similar protection strategies could prove cost prohibitive. For tomorrow’s small modular reactors and microreactors, security costs must remain appropriate to the size of the reactor for economical operation.
Y. Ronen, M. Aboudy, D. Regev
Nuclear Technology | Volume 153 | Number 2 | February 2006 | Pages 224-233
Technical Note | Fuel Cycle and Management | doi.org/10.13182/NT06-A3702
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
There is growing interest in the use of 242mAm as a nuclear fuel. Since the thermal absorption cross section of 242mAm is very high (a = 8950 b), the best way to obtain 242mAm is by the capture of fast or epithermal neutrons in 241Am. As a result, we have considered replacing the radial blanket of a fast reactor, which is usually depleted uranium, with 241AmO2.We chose a 714-MW(thermal) MONJU reactor, and we replaced some of the radial blanket and the outer core assemblies with 10 676 kg of 241AmO2 fuel. We calculated the reactor core by using the MCNP Monte Carlo code.The total amount of 242mAm becomes stabilized after 16 yr, but the enrichment does not. In our calculation, ~7.2% enrichment is obtained after 18 yr. Obtaining higher enrichments might indicate that 242mAm nuclear fuel can be used without further enrichment in many cases.The results presented in this paper are considered an upper limit scenario. In particular the target 241Am loading is not likely to be available soon, but 242mAm production from lesser amounts is easily scaled down proportional to the actual mass irradiated.