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Materials Science & Technology
The objectives of MSTD are: promote the advancement of materials science in Nuclear Science Technology; support the multidisciplines which constitute it; encourage research by providing a forum for the presentation, exchange, and documentation of relevant information; promote the interaction and communication among its members; and recognize and reward its members for significant contributions to the field of materials science in nuclear technology.
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2024 ANS Annual Conference
June 16–19, 2024
Las Vegas, NV|Mandalay Bay Resort and Casino
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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.
Luis E. Herranz, José I. Linares, Beatriz Y. Moratilla
Nuclear Technology | Volume 159 | Number 1 | July 2007 | Pages 15-24
Technical Paper | Fission Reactors | doi.org/10.13182/NT07-A3853
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
Future world energy demand will require a sustainable energy generation system. Optimization of power cycles has become a key element to better exploit natural resources, to minimize waste production, and even to reduce fuel cycle cost. Aware of this, nuclear technology is developing what has been termed Generation IV designs. In particular, the high-temperature gas-cooled reactor (HTGR) concept is a promising technology to reach much higher thermal efficiencies than present nuclear power plants.By using a classical thermodynamic methodology, this paper demonstrates that regenerative reheating would significantly enhance the thermal performance of a reference Brayton cycle based on pebble bed modular reactor (PBMR) technology. The regenerative reheating is conducted by a live gas fraction () extracted from the coolant inventory exiting the nuclear reactor. Optimization of results in efficiency values as high as 53 and 61%, respectively, under current and midterm technology scenarios. In addition, reheating would allow an effective and easy-to-conduct "load-follow" operation with no loss of thermal efficiency in the upper range of . Even further, under the midterm technology scenario, reheating would make it possible to cogenerate H2 from the enthalpy content of the fraction exiting reheater.