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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
2025 ANS Annual Conference
June 15–18, 2025
Chicago, IL|Chicago Marriott Downtown
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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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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
Tetsuya Mouri, Taira Hazama, Hiroki Katagiri, Kazuya Ohgama
Nuclear Technology | Volume 211 | Number 1 | January 2025 | Pages 143-160
Research Article | doi.org/10.1080/00295450.2024.2323228
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
The reliability and usefulness of the reaction rate distribution data measured in the prototype fast breeder reactor Monju were examined through a comparison with a calculation using JENDL-4.0, mainly focusing on shielding regions around the reactor core. The reaction rates of 238U (n,f) and 58Ni (n,p) sensitive to high-energy neutrons were all judged reliable. The calculation-to-experiment values were slightly worse in the shielding regions; however, those for the 58Ni (n,p) reaction rates were improved by employing JEFF-3.3 instead of JENDL-4.0. A different tendency was observed between the two reactions, probably due to the 238U (n,f) cross section in the energy range of around 700 eV. The reaction rates of 235U (n,f), 239Pu (n,f), 238U (n,γ), and 197Au (n,γ) sensitive to the lower-energy neutrons were mostly judged reliable. The data in the lower axial shielding region are less reliable but may be acceptable for the shielding calculation.
