ANS is committed to advancing, fostering, and promoting the development and application of nuclear sciences and technologies to benefit society.
Explore the many uses for nuclear science and its impact on energy, the environment, healthcare, food, and more.
Division Spotlight
Operations & Power
Members focus on the dissemination of knowledge and information in the area of power reactors with particular application to the production of electric power and process heat. The division sponsors meetings on the coverage of applied nuclear science and engineering as related to power plants, non-power reactors, and other nuclear facilities. It encourages and assists with the dissemination of knowledge pertinent to the safe and efficient operation of nuclear facilities through professional staff development, information exchange, and supporting the generation of viable solutions to current issues.
Meeting Spotlight
Utility Working Conference and Vendor Technology Expo (UWC 2024)
August 4–7, 2024
Marco Island, FL|JW Marriott Marco Island
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!
Latest Magazine Issues
Jul 2024
Jan 2024
Latest Journal Issues
Nuclear Science and Engineering
September 2024
Nuclear Technology
August 2024
Fusion Science and Technology
Latest News
Taking shape: Fusion energy ecosystems built with public-private partnerships
It’s possible to describe fusion in simple terms: heat and squeeze small atoms to get abundant clean energy. But there’s nothing simple about getting fusion ready for the grid.
Private developers, national lab and university researchers, suppliers, and end users working toward that goal are developing a range of complex technologies to reach fusion temperatures and pressures, confounded by science and technology gaps linked to plasma behavior; materials, diagnostics, and electronics for extreme environments; fuel cycle sustainability; and economics.
S. Wang, T. Beuthe, X. Huang, A. Nava Dominguez, A. V. Colton, B. P. Bromley
Nuclear Technology | Volume 207 | Number 4 | April 2021 | Pages 469-493
Technical Paper | doi.org/10.1080/00295450.2020.1788302
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
The use of advanced uranium-based and thorium-based fuel bundles in pressure tube heavy water reactors (PT-HWRs) has the potential to improve the utilization of uranium resources while also providing improvements in performance and safety characteristics of PT-HWRs. Previous lattice physics and core physics studies have demonstrated the feasibility of using such advanced fuels; however, thermal-hydraulic (T-H) studies are required to confirm that these advanced fuels will have adequate T-H safety margins. Preliminary system T-H transient simulations have been performed for a 700-MW(electric)–class PT-HWR in a postulated loss-of-coolant accident (LOCA) using the CATHENA code. One purpose of this work was to demonstrate that such simulations of a PT-HWR with advanced fuels could be set up and executed successfully in a CATHENA transient simulation model. The other purpose was to evaluate the peak fuel sheath and fuel centerline temperatures in two designated fuel channels containing advanced uranium-based or thorium-based fuel during a LOCA transient event. In the CATHENA simulation models, a PT-HWR core is fueled with conventional 37-element natural uranium fuel bundles in 378 out of 380 fuel channels while two designated fuel channels, the channel with the highest total power and the channel containing the bundle with the highest power level, are filled with various types of advanced fuels. Results indicate that setting up these models is feasible and that the predicted peak fuel centerline temperatures and peak sheath temperatures for the advanced fuel channels are well below the fuel melting points and the rapid oxidation temperature for the Zircaloy-4 sheath/clad (~1200°C), respectively. These preliminary results provide confidence that the advanced fuels will likely have adequate T-H safety margins in a transient LOCA event in a PT-HWR. These results set the stage for more detailed and comprehensive system T-H models of PT-HWRs fueled entirely with advanced uranium-based or thorium-based fuels.