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Division Spotlight
Education, Training & Workforce Development
The Education, Training & Workforce Development Division provides communication among the academic, industrial, and governmental communities through the exchange of views and information on matters related to education, training and workforce development in nuclear and radiological science, engineering, and technology. Industry leaders, education and training professionals, and interested students work together through Society-sponsored meetings and publications, to enrich their professional development, to educate the general public, and to advance nuclear and radiological science and engineering.
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!
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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.
Amanda D. E. Foley, Swomitra K. Mohanty, Glenn E. Sjoden
Nuclear Technology | Volume 209 | Number 2 | February 2023 | Pages 228-243
Technical Paper | doi.org/10.1080/00295450.2022.2131972
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
Cadmium zinc telluride (CZT) spectrometers have been considered for objectives and missions with variable ambient temperatures. Spectrometer-grade crystals of various sizes have been studied under conditions as low as −40°C for 2 × 2 × 2 and 5 × 5 × 2-mm3 crystals, and −10°C for 5 × 5 × 5-mm3 crystals for resolution improvement spanning 5.9-, 59.5-, and 122-keV photo peak energies. It is unclear from previously published data if cooling the spectrometer-grade crystals beyond −10°C results in increased resolution improvement or if the effect occurs with higher-energy photo peaks and trends among multiple crystals from the same manufacturer. Therefore, we acquired two CZT crystals from Kromek and cooled them in an insulated box to −25°C. Our measurements were performed every 5°C, and tested with 241Am or 241Am/152Eu mixed sources. The 241Am peaks were compared for both crystals, and the higher-energy resolution changes were explored using the mixed source.
Overall, at 59.5 keV, both crystals yielded 3% to 4% resolution improvement for the cooling cycle and 6% improvement during the warming cycle. Resolution performance varied between the two tested crystals, and each had a different temperature where we observed optimum resolution. The 121.8-keV peak resolution improved by 1.2% for the cooling cycle and 3.6% for the warming cycle. There were no discernable resolution increases or changes for the two higher-energy peaks, 224.7 and 334.3 keV, respectively. Slight cooling of the CZT crystals can increase resolution performance by 4% in the lower-energy region.