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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.
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ANS Student Conference 2025
April 3–5, 2025
Albuquerque, NM|The University of New Mexico
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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
Norway’s Halden reactor takes first step toward decommissioning
The government of Norway has granted the transfer of the Halden research reactor from the Institute for Energy Technology (IFE) to the state agency Norwegian Nuclear Decommissioning (NND). The 25-MWt Halden boiling water reactor operated from 1958 to 2018 and was used in the research of nuclear fuel, reactor internals, plant procedures and monitoring, and human factors.
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.
