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Division Spotlight
Mathematics & Computation
Division members promote the advancement of mathematical and computational methods for solving problems arising in all disciplines encompassed by the Society. They place particular emphasis on numerical techniques for efficient computer applications to aid in the dissemination, integration, and proper use of computer codes, including preparation of computational benchmark and development of standards for computing practices, and to encourage the development on new computer codes and broaden their use.
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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Nuclear Science and Engineering
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Nuclear Technology
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Fusion Science and Technology
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
Igor A. Bolotnov
Nuclear Technology | Volume 209 | Number 10 | October 2023 | Pages 1405-1413
Review Article | doi.org/10.1080/00295450.2023.2232222
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
The significant progress in the last decade of high-resolution single- and two-phase flow simulations of reactor-relevant flows is summarized in this review paper. The rapid development of high-performance computing capabilities creates exciting opportunities to study complex reactor thermal-hydraulic phenomena. Today’s advances in thermal-hydraulic analysis, interface capturing simulations, and advanced data processing and analysis approaches will help pave the way to the next level of understanding of two-phase flow behavior in nuclear reactors.
This paper discusses two major topics: (1) a brief review of interface-capturing simulations in recent years and (2) several opportunities to advance these numerical research tools in the future. The first part discusses typical computational methods used for these simulations and provides some examples of past work, as well as computational cost estimates and affordability of such simulations for research and industrial applications. In the second part, some specific examples are discussed that could be analyzed using exascale supercomputers being designed and projected to be online in the next several years. New-generation methodologies are required to take full advantage of these capabilities to greatly enhance the scientific understanding of complex two-phase flow phenomena in various conditions relevant to industrial applications.
