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Conference Spotlight
2026 Annual Conference
May 31–June 3, 2026
Denver, CO|Sheraton Denver
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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Education and training to support Canadian nuclear workforce development
Along with several other nations, Canada has committed to net-zero emissions by 2050. Part of this plan is tripling nuclear generating capacity. As of 2025, the country has four operating nuclear generating stations with a total of 17 reactors, 16 of which are in the province of Ontario. The Independent Electricity System Operator has recommended that an additional 17,800 MWe of nuclear power be added to Ontario’s grid.
Xiaole Wang, Leisheng Chen, Ruixiang Sun, Jaeyoung Lee
Nuclear Technology | Volume 211 | Number 8 | August 2025 | Pages 1662-1673
Research Article | doi.org/10.1080/00295450.2024.2425915
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
Inserting small spheres of a fixed size into a pebble bed can enhance heat transfer, lower the surface temperature of fuel elements, and reduce the risk of local hot spots. However, does a multisized pebble bed outperform a double-sized pebble bed in terms of heat transfer? To address this question, numerical simulations were conducted to evaluate the heat transfer characteristics of face-centered-cubic-structured pebble beds with two and three types of small spheres, maintaining a constant solid volume. The results showed that the average heat transfer coefficients of the multisized pebble bed were nearly identical to those of the double-sized bed. This suggests that using two types of small spheres does not necessarily provide better heat transfer performance than using a double-sized bed. Additionally, the number, size, and placement of the spheres influenced the pressure drop. These findings offer insights into the heat transfer behavior of high-temperature reactor cores and provide a useful reference for the design of future pebble bed reactor cores.