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Division Spotlight
Thermal Hydraulics
The division provides a forum for focused technical dialogue on thermal hydraulic technology in the nuclear industry. Specifically, this will include heat transfer and fluid mechanics involved in the utilization of nuclear energy. It is intended to attract the highest quality of theoretical and experimental work to ANS, including research on basic phenomena and application to nuclear system design.
Meeting Spotlight
2024 ANS Annual Conference
June 16–19, 2024
Las Vegas, NV|Mandalay Bay Resort and Casino
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
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.
G. Cao, S. Herrmann, S. Li, R. Hoover, J. King, B. Serrano-Rodriguez, K. Marsden
Nuclear Technology | Volume 206 | Number 4 | April 2020 | Pages 577-586
Technical Paper | doi.org/10.1080/00295450.2019.1666601
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
LiCl-Li2O salt is a widely used electrolyte for the electrochemical reduction of spent oxide (mainly uranium oxide) fuels, and the Li2O concentration is usually controlled at about 1.41 mol % for optimum operation and corrosion mitigation of the platinum anode material. Due to the small difference in reduction potential between UO2 and Li2O, some Li2O will be reduced during the oxide reduction process, leading to a Li2O deviation from the desired 1.41 mol %. Monitoring of the Li2O concentration is desired for proper control of the electrochemical oxide reduction process. In this paper, a Li2O sensor based on a yttria stabilized zirconia (YSZ) membrane was developed and tested to evaluate the feasibility of using the Li2O sensor to monitor the Li2O concentrations in the range of 0.57 to 1.69 mol % Li2O in LiCl-Li2O salt systems—one without dissolved Li metal and another with 0.24 mol % dissolved Li metal. The experimental results show that the open circuit potential of the Li2O sensor logarithmically responded to the concentration of Li2O in LiCl-Li2O salts with or without the presence of Li metal, suggesting that YSZ appears promising for real-time monitoring of the Li2O concentration in LiCl-Li2O salt for an oxide reduction process. The Li2O sensor developed herein is based on a potentiometry measurement that requires a stable, reliable reference electrode (RE), particularly for long-term Li2O concentration monitoring. To this end, a novel Ag/AgCl RE that is contained in a high-density MgO tube with a closed end was developed and exhibited stable electrode potential, chemical compatibility with LiCl-Li2O, and good mechanical strength. The performance of the newly developed Ag/AgCl RE was demonstrated in Li2O monitoring by comparing it with a traditional Ni/NiO RE.