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
Operations & Power
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.
Meeting Spotlight
International Conference on Mathematics and Computational Methods Applied to Nuclear Science and Engineering (M&C 2025)
April 27–30, 2025
Denver, CO|The Westin Denver 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!
Latest Magazine Issues
Apr 2025
Jan 2025
Latest Journal Issues
Nuclear Science and Engineering
June 2025
Nuclear Technology
Fusion Science and Technology
May 2025
Latest News
Argonne’s METL gears up to test more sodium fast reactor components
Argonne National Laboratory has successfully swapped out an aging cold trap in the sodium test loop called METL (Mechanisms Engineering Test Loop), the Department of Energy announced April 23. The upgrade is the first of its kind in the United States in more than 30 years, according to the DOE, and will help test components and operations for the sodium-cooled fast reactors being developed now.
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.
