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Division Spotlight
Thermal Hydraulics
The division provides a forum for focused technical dialogue on thermal hydraulic technology in the nuclear industry. Specifically, this will include heat transfer and fluid mechanics involved in the utilization of nuclear energy. It is intended to attract the highest quality of theoretical and experimental work to ANS, including research on basic phenomena and application to nuclear system design.
Meeting Spotlight
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
Taking shape: Fusion energy ecosystems built with public-private partnerships
It’s possible to describe fusion in simple terms: heat and squeeze small atoms to get abundant clean energy. But there’s nothing simple about getting fusion ready for the grid.
Private developers, national lab and university researchers, suppliers, and end users working toward that goal are developing a range of complex technologies to reach fusion temperatures and pressures, confounded by science and technology gaps linked to plasma behavior; materials, diagnostics, and electronics for extreme environments; fuel cycle sustainability; and economics.
J.-M. Travere, M.-H. Aumeunier, M. Joanny, T. Loarer, M. Firdaouss, E. Gauthier, V. Martin, V. Moncada, L. Marot, D. Chabaud, E. Humbert, J.-J. Fermé, C. Thellier
Fusion Science and Technology | Volume 64 | Number 4 | November 2013 | Pages 735-740
Technical Paper | doi.org/10.13182/FST13-A24093
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
The ITER actively cooled tokamak is the next-generation fusion device that will allow study of the burning plasma over hundreds of seconds. ITER plasma-facing component (PFC) real-time protection will be mandatory to minimize operational risks as water leaks and critical heat flux lead to degradation of PFCs. The protection systems routinely used on Tore Supra (TS) or JET are based on infrared (IR) imaging systems controlling and monitoring the power load on the PFCs through surface temperature measurements. Thanks to TS expertise in actively cooled tokamak and long-pulse operation, three urgent research and development domains are discussed in this paper addressing the feasibility and the performance of the PFC protection function for the new and harsh environment of ITER: (a) the understanding of IR signals in a reflective environment using a physics-based light model simulation; (b) a PFC protection data processing architecture for event detection and identification; and (c) the feasibility, performance, and prototyping of the first optical component of the imaging systems - actively cooled, facing the plasma - which will impact the image quality and therefore PFC protection performance.