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Division Spotlight
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.
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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Latest News
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.
Xin-Guo Yu, Ki-Yong Choi, Chul-Hwa Song, Istvan Trosztel, Ivan Toth, Gyorgy Ezsol
Nuclear Technology | Volume 191 | Number 2 | August 2015 | Pages 136-150
Technical Paper | Reactor Safety | doi.org/10.13182/NT14-55
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
Pressure waves might be expected in a nuclear reactor system due to a sudden rupture of a pipe or to quick opening or closure of a system valve. Once generated, they can result in large mechanical loads on the reactor pressure vessel internal structures and pipelines, threatening their integrity. This kind of phenomenon is an important issue and a limiting accident case for nuclear power plant safety, which requires an extensive analysis to ensure plant safety. To study these phenomena, four pressure wave propagation (PWP) tests have been performed in the PMK-2 test facility in MTA-EK. In addition, the first one of the four tests has been used to assess the capability of the MARS-KS code in simulating PWP phenomena. Then, an input model representing the PMK-2 test facility was developed to simulate the tests. Herein, the MARS-KS code simulation results are compared with the test results for the first PWP test. The comparison shows that the MARS-KS code can simulate the PWP frequencies and pressure wave peaks well. After this qualified assessment, the MARS-KS code is then deployed to conduct a sensitivity analysis on the effect of the break size, break opening times, initial coolant conditions, and existence of the pressurizer on the PWP phenomena. The sensitivity analysis on the break opening times shows that the pressure wave amplitude is relevant to the break opening times and that the shorter the break opening time is, the faster the pressure depressurizes. The sensitivity analysis on the effect of the break sizes shows that the larger the break size is, the higher the pressure peak is. And, there is little effect of initial coolant pressure and temperatures and isolation of the pressurizer.
