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Explore the many uses for nuclear science and its impact on energy, the environment, healthcare, food, and more.
Division Spotlight
Materials Science & Technology
The objectives of MSTD are: promote the advancement of materials science in Nuclear Science Technology; support the multidisciplines which constitute it; encourage research by providing a forum for the presentation, exchange, and documentation of relevant information; promote the interaction and communication among its members; and recognize and reward its members for significant contributions to the field of materials science in nuclear technology.
Meeting Spotlight
2025 ANS Annual Conference
June 15–18, 2025
Chicago, IL|Chicago Marriott Downtown
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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Latest News
High-temperature plumbing and advanced reactors
The use of nuclear fission power and its role in impacting climate change is hotly debated. Fission advocates argue that short-term solutions would involve the rapid deployment of Gen III+ nuclear reactors, like Vogtle-3 and -4, while long-term climate change impact would rely on the creation and implementation of Gen IV reactors, “inherently safe” reactors that use passive laws of physics and chemistry rather than active controls such as valves and pumps to operate safely. While Gen IV reactors vary in many ways, one thing unites nearly all of them: the use of exotic, high-temperature coolants. These fluids, like molten salts and liquid metals, can enable reactor engineers to design much safer nuclear reactors—ultimately because the boiling point of each fluid is extremely high. Fluids that remain liquid over large temperature ranges can provide good heat transfer through many demanding conditions, all with minimal pressurization. Although the most apparent use for these fluids is advanced fission power, they have the potential to be applied to other power generation sources such as fusion, thermal storage, solar, or high-temperature process heat.1–3
Robert David
Nuclear Technology | Volume 209 | Number 8 | August 2023 | Pages 1145-1153
Research Article | doi.org/10.1080/00295450.2023.2188145
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
In a severe accident in a CANDU reactor, disassembly of the core could produce a bed of coarse debris at the bottom of the calandria that would eventually transition into a pool of molten corium. During this process, it may be possible for small amounts of molten core material to contact the calandria wall. The transient heat flow through a calandria wall suddenly contacted by molten Zr or corium is analyzed with a finite element model. Ablation of the wall at its inner surface and the temporary increase in heat flux through its outer surface are calculated for various boundary conditions. Model calculations are compared to observations of the ablation and temperature of a stainless steel plate sprayed by prototypic corium in the Cesium Aerosol Generation-4 or CAGE-4 experiment.
