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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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2025 ANS Annual Conference
June 15–18, 2025
Chicago, IL|Chicago Marriott Downtown
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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
Guanghui Wang, Hui He, Yaorui Li, Meng Zhang, Yang Gao, Caishan Jiao
Nuclear Technology | Volume 209 | Number 9 | September 2023 | Pages 1373-1381
Research Article | doi.org/10.1080/00295450.2023.2199905
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
The contaminated solvent from the Purex process is washed with alkaline detergents such as sodium carbonate, which generates a large amount of secondary wastes. Therefore, hydrazine carbonate as a salt-free reagent deserves to be studied in depth. In this study, the Ce(IV), U(VI), and Zr(IV) metal ions in organic phases containing dibutyl phosphate (HDBP) of 30% tributyl phosphate (TBP)–dodecane were washed with hydrazine carbonate. The effects of the oscillation time (1 to 15 min); temperature (25°C to 85°C); cumulative number of washes (one to four times); mass fraction of hydrazine carbonate (0.1% to 20%); volume ratio of the aqueous phase to the organic phase (0.2 to 5); HDBP concentration (0 to 0.4 M); HNO3 concentration (0.05 to 8 M); and concentration of Ce(IV), U(VI), and Zr(IV) metal ions on the removal percentages of Ce(IV), U(VI), and Zr(IV) metal ions in polluted solvents were studied. The results showed that when the organic phase containing 0.02 M HDBP was washed three times with 5% hydrazine carbonate at 25°C, the removal percentages of the Ce(IV), U(VI), and Zr(IV) ions were 96%, 98%, and 94%, respectively. Meanwhile, the retention concentrations of the three in the organic phase were 35, 28, and 78 mg/L, respectively. The increase of the mass fraction of hydrazine carbonate enhances the removal of the metal ions from the organic phase into the aqueous phase. High acid is not conducive to alkaline washing of metal ions. The increase of HDBP concentration not only promotes extraction but also increases the retention capacity of the organic phase and has the most significant effect on Zr(IV). U(VI) promotes the preferential washing of Zr(IV) while Ce(IV) increases the metal retention concentration of Zr(IV) in the organic phase.
