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Division Spotlight
Reactor Physics
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.
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
Geological work begins on Poland’s first nuclear plant
Project management firm Bechtel started site geological surveys for Poland’s first nuclear power plant project, the company announced on Wednesday.
Bechtel will conduct in-depth geological surveys at the Lubiatowo-Kopalino site in the Pomeranian municipality of Choczewo, in northern Poland. This is a key milestone for the country’s entry into nuclear power production, as the surveys will inform the suitability of the planned site.
Xiaoyang Gaus-Liu, Thomas Cron, Beatrix Fluhrer
Nuclear Technology | Volume 206 | Number 9 | September 2020 | Pages 1385-1396
Technical Paper | doi.org/10.1080/00295450.2020.1743102
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
In-vessel melt retention (IVMR) is a promising strategy in severe accident management for light water reactors. This strategy is not only adopted in the VVER 440 or AP600 reactors, but also included in higher-power reactors around 1000 MW(electric), like the AP1000 and Chinese CPR 1000. There is still a large uncertainty of IVMR by external cooling at powers higher than 1000 MW(electric), and especially where a thin metallic layer appears on the top of a heat-generating oxide layer. Less knowledge based on large-scale experiments is available until now of the interactive physical, chemical, and thermohydraulic processes between the oxide layer and the metallic layer. A test series of naturally separated two liquid layers was conducted in the upgraded LIVE2D test facility in Karlsruhe Institute of Technology using a nitrate salt mixture and high-temperature oil as the lower layer and upper layer simulant, respectively. The transparent front wall of the test vessel enables direct observation of global convection patterns of the melts and the response of the crust at the layer interface. The experiment reveals major thermohydraulic characteristics of the metallic layer during the transient and steady states. The intensity of the heat flux focusing effect in dependence of layer thickness can be clearly identified.