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Division Spotlight
Radiation Protection & Shielding
The Radiation Protection and Shielding Division is developing and promoting radiation protection and shielding aspects of nuclear science and technology — including interaction of nuclear radiation with materials and biological systems, instruments and techniques for the measurement of nuclear radiation fields, and radiation shield design and evaluation.
Meeting Spotlight
2024 ANS Annual Conference
June 16–19, 2024
Las Vegas, NV|Mandalay Bay Resort and Casino
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
Commercial nuclear innovation "new space" age
In early 2006, a start-up company launched a small rocket from a tiny island in the Pacific. It exploded, showering the island with debris. A year later, a second launch attempt sent a rocket to space but failed to make orbit, burning up in the atmosphere. Another year brought a third attempt—and a third failure. The following month, in September 2008, the company used the last of its funds to launch a fourth rocket. It reached orbit, making history as the first privately funded liquid-fueled rocket to do so.
Abdalla Abou-Jaoude, Yasir Arafat, Chandrakanth Bolisetti, Botros Hanna, Joshua Belvedere, James Blocker, Brandon Cooper, Shanda Harmon, Dan McCarthy
Nuclear Technology | Volume 209 | Number 11 | November 2023 | Pages 1697-1732
Regular Research Article | doi.org/10.1080/00295450.2023.2206779
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
Microreactors present promising opportunities to open new nuclear energy markets. However, it is expected that the economic competitiveness of this new class of reactors will hinge on potential cost reductions via mass production. It is therefore critical to begin assessing important considerations for the factory production of microreactors. An overview of the important aspects of the general layout of a microreactor factory, along with best practices to be incorporated early in the design process, is provided in this study. Then, a detailed use case is considered and modeled using a dedicated tool that can map workflows and activities within a factory. The end product is a 242 000 sq. ft. factory model that can ramp up production from 10 to 100 units per year.
Based on the activities and workflows needed, cost estimates for equipment and staffing needs are generated. These are expected to be first-order estimates, but would still provide guidance on the level of investment needed to reach mass production levels of microreactors. Furthermore, the potential cost reductions from scaling production are quantified. It was found that for a 100-unit factory throughput, reductions above 70% per unit cost relative to a prototype demonstration, could be observed for tasks conducted within a factory. These estimates focus solely on component fabricated at a factory and do not account for fuel costs nor any site activities. Because the analysis is design specific, not all findings are expected to be applicable across different microreactors (notably larger varieties), but it still provides a foundation establishing the basis for the mass production of these reactors.