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Conference Spotlight
Nuclear Energy Conference & Expo (NECX)
September 8–11, 2025
Atlanta, GA|Atlanta Marriott Marquis
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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 approves V.C. Summer’s second license renewal
Dominion Energy’s V.C. Summer nuclear power plant, in Jenkinsville, S.C., has been authorized to operate for 80 years, until August 2062, following the renewal of its operating license by the Nuclear Regulatory Commission for a second time.
Gerald P. Jackson
Nuclear Technology | Volume 208 | Number 1 | December 2022 | Pages S107-S112
Technical Note | doi.org/10.1080/00295450.2021.1997057
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
Low-mass antimatter-based propulsion systems are well matched to low-mass unmanned spacecraft sent to explore exoplanets and transmit back scientific observations. In the case of nearby habitable-zone exoplanet Proxima b, flyby missions as short as 20 years are being contemplated. In order to achieve spacecraft velocities greater than 2% of the speed of light, exhaust particle velocities commensurate with kinetic energies of at least 1 MeV/nucleon are required. The design of a nuclear propulsion system capable of such particle energies is presented. The scope of this technical note is restricted to the nuclear physics of antiproton-induced fission, classical physics of collimating charged exhaust particles, and the accelerator physics of a particle trap within which the fission events are generated. Other vital issues such as antimatter production and storage are the subject of papers in other journals more appropriate for these subjects.