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
Robotics & Remote Systems
The Mission of the Robotics and Remote Systems Division is to promote the development and application of immersive simulation, robotics, and remote systems for hazardous environments for the purpose of reducing hazardous exposure to individuals, reducing environmental hazards and reducing the cost of performing work.
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!
Latest Magazine Issues
May 2025
Jan 2025
Latest Journal Issues
Nuclear Science and Engineering
July 2025
Nuclear Technology
June 2025
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
Koichiro Omura
Nuclear Technology | Volume 211 | Number 5 | May 2025 | Pages 863-888
Review Article | doi.org/10.1080/00295450.2024.2368960
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
Hamaoka Nuclear Power Station Unit 5 is an advanced boiling water reactor with a generating capacity of 1.38 GW. It was shut down on May 14, 2011 at the request of the Minister of Economy, Trade and Industry. Seawater contaminated the equipment in a wide range of locations. We promptly cleaned up the reactor water and conducted an impact assessment and integrity evaluation of the equipment. The contamination areas were mainly categorized into the reactor pressure vessel and reactor internals, which are difficult to inspect and replace, and other peripheral facilities, which are relatively easy to inspect and replace.
The inspection results showed that discoloration, thinning, and adhesions due to corrosion were found in a wide range of other peripheral facilities. Basically, the minor corroded components could be removed by maintenance, so they were not considered to have an impact on the functionality of the reactor. Whereas many of the pressure vessels and reactor internals are difficult to replace, and we are currently collecting knowledge on the effects of high-temperature operation during the restart of the reactors. A large amount of seawater contamination in a nuclear reactor facility is a rare event, and this paper mainly describes the effects of seawater on the components.