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Organized to promote the advancement of knowledge in the use of nuclear science and technologies in the aerospace application. Specialized nuclear-based technologies and applications are needed to advance the state-of-the-art in aerospace design, engineering and operations to explore planetary bodies in our solar system and beyond, plus enhance the safety of air travel, especially high speed air travel. Areas of interest will include but are not limited to the creation of nuclear-based power and propulsion systems, multifunctional materials to protect humans and electronic components from atmospheric, space, and nuclear power system radiation, human factor strategies for the safety and reliable operation of nuclear power and propulsion plants by non-specialized personnel and more.
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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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Prepare for the 2025 PE Exam with ANS guides
The next opportunity to earn professional engineer (PE) licensure in nuclear engineering is this fall. Now is the time to sign up and begin studying with the help of materials like the online module program offered by the American Nuclear Society.
Paul K. Chan, Stephane Paquette, Hugues W. Bonin
Nuclear Technology | Volume 191 | Number 1 | July 2015 | Pages 1-14
Technical Paper | Fuel Cycle and Management | doi.org/10.13182/NT14-67
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
A CANDU lattice cell has been modeled using the Los Alamos National Laboratory's MCNP 6 code and Atomic Energy of Canada Limited's WIMS-AECL 3.1. Models for the CANDU 37-element fuel bundle have included a CANLUB coating, as a carrier for the neutron absorbers. The objective is to improve CANDU reactor operating margins by adding small amounts (∼1 g) of neutron absorbers to each fuel element.
For CANDU natural uranium fuel bundle design, the results indicate that (a) the fueling transient (due to the xenon-free effect) could be significantly reduced using gadolinium oxide (Gd2O3), with no significant impact on fuel burnup, and (b) the reactivity peak (due to plutonium production) could be reduced using europium oxide (Eu2O3), with minimal impact on fuel burnup. An appropriate mixture of Gd2O3 and Eu2O3 that will improve operation and safety margins while having a minimal impact on fuel burnup is determined.
Reactivity and power calculations for various mixtures of Gd2O3 and Eu2O3 are reported here. It is concluded that ∼180 mg Gd2O3 and ∼1000 mg Eu2O3 (∼4.9 ×10−3 wt% per bundle) are sufficient to suppress the refueling transient and lower the axial plutonium peak, with a 0.27% burnup penalty (which is a small impact).
Fuel safety and performance are always important topics for a nuclear utility. This approach of a relatively simple application of burnable poisons to existing CANDU natural uranium fuel design offers the benefits of improving fuel utilization and safety margins.
