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Reactor Physics
The division's objectives are to promote the advancement of knowledge and understanding of the fundamental physical phenomena characterizing nuclear reactors and other nuclear systems. The division encourages research and disseminates information through meetings and publications. Areas of technical interest include nuclear data, particle interactions and transport, reactor and nuclear systems analysis, methods, design, validation and operating experience and standards. The Wigner Award heads the awards program.
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Utility Working Conference and Vendor Technology Expo (UWC 2024)
August 4–7, 2024
Marco Island, FL|JW Marriott Marco Island
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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Fusion Science and Technology
Latest News
DOE issues RFI for a spent fuel consolidated interim storage facility
The Department of Energy’s Office of Nuclear Energy has issued a request for information opportunity for the design and construction of a federal consolidated interim storage facility (CISF) for spent nuclear fuel. The DOE is planning on establishing a federal CISF to manage SNF until a permanent repository is available. In May, the DOE received initial approval, known as “Critical Decision-0,” for such a facility.
The deadline for submissions is September 5.
H. Huang, L. C. Carlson, W. Requieron, N. Rice, D. Hoover, M. Farrell, D. Goodin, A. Nikroo, J. Biener, M. Stadernann, S. W. Haan, D. Ho, C. Wild
Fusion Science and Technology | Volume 70 | Number 2 | August-September 2016 | Pages 377-386
Technical Paper | doi.org/10.13182/FST15-220
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
High-density carbon (HDC) is being evaluated as an alternative to the current National Ignition Facility (NIF) point-design ablator material (glow discharge plasma, or GDP, plastic) due to its high density and optimal opacity, which leads to a higher implosion velocity. Chemical-vapor-deposition–coated HDC capsules have a near perfect surface figure but a microscopically rough surface. After polishing, the surface becomes smooth at nanometer scales but has numerous micron-sized surface pits, whose volumes, morphology, and distribution must be quantified to guide NIF target selection. Traditional metrology tools for GDP surface defects, such as the atomic force microscope (AFM) based Spheremapper and a phase-shifting differential interferometer, lack the resolution to characterize these localized features. In this paper, we describe how this metrology challenge is met by developing automated surface metrology solutions based on a high-density (HD) AFM and a Leica confocal microscope. These tools are complementary in nature. HD-AFM has a 0.1-μm spatial resolution and determines the overall shape distortion and pit statistics by tracing great circles on a capsule with high throughput. The Leica confocal microscope maps the two-dimensional (2-D) surface at low magnification to find all large defects that could be missed by HD-AFM. Then, a high magnification scan inspects at a 0.3-μm lateral resolution to characterize the defect volume. These 2-D maps provide an opportunity for modeling the shell performance at the peak implosion velocity, thereby aiding capsule selection. These new and improved metrology tools provide quantitative data for the continual refinement of the NIF specifications for HDC capsules. Finally, we report on the development of a laser ablation tool that, when combined with the Leica confocal microscope, can identify, quantify, and laser-ablate GDP domes that do not meet NIF specifications.