ANS is committed to advancing, fostering, and promoting the development and application of nuclear sciences and technologies to benefit society.
Explore the many uses for nuclear science and its impact on energy, the environment, healthcare, food, and more.
Division Spotlight
Thermal Hydraulics
The division provides a forum for focused technical dialogue on thermal hydraulic technology in the nuclear industry. Specifically, this will include heat transfer and fluid mechanics involved in the utilization of nuclear energy. It is intended to attract the highest quality of theoretical and experimental work to ANS, including research on basic phenomena and application to nuclear system design.
Meeting Spotlight
2024 ANS Winter Conference and Expo
November 17–21, 2024
Orlando, FL|Renaissance Orlando at SeaWorld
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!
Latest Magazine Issues
Oct 2024
Jul 2024
Latest Journal Issues
Nuclear Science and Engineering
November 2024
Nuclear Technology
Fusion Science and Technology
Latest News
Liftoff report lifts the lid on cost and risk in push to nth-of-a-kind reactors
The Pathways to Commercial Liftoff: Advanced Nuclear report that was released in March 2023 by the Department of Energy called for five to 10 signed reactor contracts for at least one reactor design by 2025. Now, 18 months have passed, and despite the word “resurgence” in media reports on the U.S. nuclear power industry, 2025 is fast approaching with no contracts signed.
Shiping Wei, Jin Wang, Zhixin Ma, Ming Jin, Chunjing Li, Yuan Hu
Nuclear Technology | Volume 210 | Number 10 | October 2024 | Pages 1901-1913
Research Article | doi.org/10.1080/00295450.2024.2304911
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
A 100-W radioisotope thermoelectric generator (RTG) is by far the most suitable power supply for long-term deep space exploration where solar power would not be feasible. Understanding the thermal performance and electrical performance of the RTG under operational conditions is paramount for its nominal and safety performance during the space mission. In this paper, modeling and experimental studies on the thermal behavior and electrical performance of the 100-W RTG have been conducted. The RTG uses high conversion efficiency skutterudite-based thermoelectric convertor (TEC) arrays thermally coupled with a radioisotope heat unit (RHU) to generate electricity. A comprehensive finite element model and an electrical heating prototype of the 100-W RTG have been built to assess the performance of the RTG designs. Critical temperature, generated power, and energy conversion efficiency were evaluated. The simulation results show that the maximum output power of the RTG can reach about 120 W(electric); the temperature of the hot end of the TECs is about 853 K, and the temperature of the cold end is about 473 K, making a temperature difference of about 380 K. The RTG prototype with Bi2Te3 TECs generated about 60 W(electric) of electrical power in the first experimental research stage. These research results have significant reference for extension of the RTG prototype to the actual power source of the RHU and allow for future research and development improvements of the 100-W RTG.