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Division Spotlight
Robotics & Remote Systems
The Mission of the Robotics and Remote Systems Division is to promote the development and application of immersive simulation, robotics, and remote systems for hazardous environments for the purpose of reducing hazardous exposure to individuals, reducing environmental hazards and reducing the cost of performing work.
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.
Ye Wu, Michael Q. Wang, Anant D. Vyas, David C. Wade, Temitope A. Taiwo
Nuclear Technology | Volume 155 | Number 2 | August 2006 | Pages 192-207
Technical Paper | Fuel Cycle and Management | doi.org/10.13182/NT06-A3756
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
A fuel cycle model - called the Greenhouse gases, Regulated Emissions, and Energy use in Transportation (GREET) model - has been developed to evaluate well-to-wheels (WTW) energy and emission impacts of motor vehicle technologies fueled with various transportation fuels. The GREET model contains various hydrogen (H2) production pathways for fuel cell vehicle (FCV) applications. In this study, the GREET model was expanded to include four nuclear H2 production pathways: (a) H2 production at refueling stations via electrolysis using light water reactor-generated electricity, (b) H2 production in central plants via thermochemical water cracking using heat from a high-temperature gas-cooled reactor (HTGR), (c) H2 production in central plants via high-temperature electrolysis using HTGR-generated electricity and steam, and (d) H2 production at refueling stations via electrolysis using HTGR-generated electricity. The WTW analyses of these four options include these stages: uranium ore mining and milling, uranium yellowcake transportation, uranium conversion, uranium enrichment, uranium fuel fabrication, uranium fuel transportation, electricity or H2 production in nuclear power plants, H2 transportation, H2 compression, and H2 FCV operation. Our well-to-pump results show that significant reductions in fossil energy use and greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions are achieved by nuclear-based H2 compared to natural gas-based H2 production via steam methane reforming for a unit of H2 delivered at refueling stations. When H2 is applied to FCVs, the WTW results also show large benefits in reducing fossil energy use and GHG emissions.