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Explore the many uses for nuclear science and its impact on energy, the environment, healthcare, food, and more.
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Aerospace Nuclear Science & Technology
Organized to promote the advancement of knowledge in the use of nuclear science and technologies in the aerospace application. Specialized nuclear-based technologies and applications are needed to advance the state-of-the-art in aerospace design, engineering and operations to explore planetary bodies in our solar system and beyond, plus enhance the safety of air travel, especially high speed air travel. Areas of interest will include but are not limited to the creation of nuclear-based power and propulsion systems, multifunctional materials to protect humans and electronic components from atmospheric, space, and nuclear power system radiation, human factor strategies for the safety and reliable operation of nuclear power and propulsion plants by non-specialized personnel and more.
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2024 ANS Winter Conference and Expo
November 17–21, 2024
Orlando, FL|Renaissance Orlando at SeaWorld
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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Nuclear Science and Engineering
November 2024
Nuclear Technology
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Latest News
Westinghouse reorganization creates two new business units
Westinghouse Electric Company has announced that it will create two new global business units from its Operating Plant Services business. Effective January 1, 2025, the new units will be Long-Term Operations and Outage & Maintenance Services.
T. Cutler, H. Trellue, M. Blood, T. Grove, E. Luther, N. Thompson, N. Wynne
Nuclear Technology | Volume 209 | Number 1 | January 2023 | Pages S92-S108
Technical Paper | doi.org/10.1080/00295450.2022.2027146
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
The Hypatia measurement campaign with YHx moderators and highly enriched uranium (HEU) was completed in January 2021 at the U.S. Department of Energy’s National Criticality Experiments Research Center at the Nevada National Security Site. This measurement campaign provided unique integral measurements based on two experimental configurations and investigated the temperature effects of yttrium hydride (YHX = 1.8 and 1.9) in a critical reactor system, which is of potential interest for microreactor designs. The Hypatia experiment consisted of a fuel column composed of HEU, 93 wt% 235U discs, encapsulated YHX, aluminum oxide heater plates, and other moderator and reflector materials (beryllium, depleted uranium, and graphite) inserted into a thick beryllium reflector. During the Hypatia experiment, baseline measurements were taken at room temperature. The aluminum oxide heater plates were specially designed and used for this project to increase the central core temperature to a range of temperatures, after which additional reactivity measurements were taken. Thermal and neutronic calculations predicted that YHX is a unique material that can exhibit a positive temperature coefficient of reactivity (i.e., reactivity can increase as the temperature in the YHX increases). Reactors using YHX should account for this unique feature during design, and the results of the Hypatia experiment significantly aid that process. For configuration 1, six different temperature reactivity measurements were taken with four YHX cans in the fuel column. For configuration 2, six different temperature reactivity measurements were taken with two YHX cans in the fuel column. The use of these two configurations provide a comparison of neutronic effects from the YHX cans versus other components. Preliminary conclusions show the positive temperature coefficient is similar but slightly less than predicted by simulations. These two sets of data will be used to separate the reactivity coefficients of the fuel and other materials in the fuel column.
