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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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2025 ANS Annual Conference
June 15–18, 2025
Chicago, IL|Chicago Marriott Downtown
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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
NRC v. Texas: Supreme Court weighs challenge to NRC authority in spent fuel storage case
The State of Texas has not one but two ongoing federal court challenges to the Nuclear Regulatory Commission that could, if successful, turn decades of NRC regulations, precedent, and case law on its head.
Tuomo Sevón
Nuclear Technology | Volume 197 | Number 2 | February 2017 | Pages 171-179
Technical Paper | doi.org/10.13182/NT16-108
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
The water ingression mechanism can enhance the coolability of a pool of molten corium in containment during a severe accident. A water ingression model was added to the MELCOR code in 2015. The purpose of this work was to test the new model. It was found that the water ingression model performed satisfactorily in core-concrete–interaction experiments in which gas bubbles were released to the melt from decomposing concrete. The new model had little effect in the Small-Scale Water Ingression and Crust Strength (SSWICS) experiments that were done without gas bubbling through the melt. When applied to the Fukushima Daiichi Unit 1 accident, the water ingression model slowed down concrete ablation by 19% but did not quench the melt. Because the water ingression model was added to MELCOR so recently, the default treatment is still to use multipliers for the boiling heat transfer coefficient and thermal conductivity instead of the proper water ingression model. These default parameters significantly overestimated melt coolability in all the experiments that were calculated.