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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.
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2024 ANS Annual Conference
June 16–19, 2024
Las Vegas, NV|Mandalay Bay Resort and Casino
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Commercial nuclear innovation "new space" age
In early 2006, a start-up company launched a small rocket from a tiny island in the Pacific. It exploded, showering the island with debris. A year later, a second launch attempt sent a rocket to space but failed to make orbit, burning up in the atmosphere. Another year brought a third attempt—and a third failure. The following month, in September 2008, the company used the last of its funds to launch a fourth rocket. It reached orbit, making history as the first privately funded liquid-fueled rocket to do so.
Douglas M. Gerstner, James R. Parry, David J. Broussard, Brandon L. Moon, Anthony W. LaPorta, Charles P. Forshee, Lawrence J. Harrison, Monty L. Conley
Nuclear Technology | Volume 205 | Number 10 | October 2019 | Pages 1266-1289
Technical Paper | doi.org/10.1080/00295450.2018.1556993
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
The TREAT facility suspended operations in 1994 after decades of highly successful operation. The TREAT facility began operations in 1958 with a hazards summary report that met the safety-basis regulatory requirements at that time. The TREAT safety basis was later updated in the early 1980s to include a Final Safety Analysis Report (FSAR) and Technical Specifications (TSs) that met the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) regulatory requirements at that time. The last substantial update of the TREAT safety-basis documents was performed in 1988 prior to suspension of operations in 1994. After the last update, significant changes in DOE regulatory foundation occurred with nuclear safety rule codification in 10 CFR 830, “Nuclear Safety Management.”
To support resumption of transient testing operations, a complete modernization and a significant rewrite of the TREAT safety-basis documents were required to meet 10 CFR 830, Subpart B, “Safety Basis Requirements.” In addition, a completely updated nuclear safety accident analysis was required to support the current operating strategy and a modern safety posture, as well as bound the safe operations of future experiments.
No one clear regulatory format and content template or guide exists for the FSAR and TS for a pulse-type, air-cooled, graphite-moderated DOE reactor such as TREAT. This paper discusses the unique challenges with (1) updating the TREAT safety basis to current DOE regulatory requirements to support the resumption of transient testing operations; (2) documenting that the TREAT design, safety analysis, and operations ensure that the facility is operated safely; and (3) providing an analysis that supports future experiment operations.
The successful approval of the updated TREAT safety basis was a key milestone in the Resumption of Transient Testing Program.