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
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
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!
Latest Magazine Issues
Jul 2024
Jan 2024
Latest Journal Issues
Nuclear Science and Engineering
August 2024
Nuclear Technology
Fusion Science and Technology
Latest News
Constellation seeks rezone for property adjacent to Illinois plant
While no development details have been released, Constellation is asking to rezone 658.8 acres of land it owns around the Byron nuclear plant in Illinois for possible long-term use.
Ethan Coffey, Greg Hanson, David Hill, Timothy Jones, Arnold Lumsdaine, Claire Luttrell, Chuck Schaich
Fusion Science and Technology | Volume 72 | Number 3 | October 2017 | Pages 505-509
Technical Note | doi.org/10.1080/15361055.2017.1333857
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
The ITER Electron Cyclotron Heating (ECH) system provides 20 MW of microwave power from 24 gyrotron sources. The power is transmitted through evacuated, corrugated waveguide transmission lines. The aluminum waveguide is cooled by the attachment of water-cooled copper tubes. These are connected through a conductive graphite foil that is used to increase the heat transfer ability between the aluminum and copper. In the regions where the waveguide is joined to a miter bend or to another waveguide section via a coupling, the waveguide cannot be actively cooled due to coupling hardware. Waveguide sections near couplings and miter bends are modeled and subjected to heat loads based on ITER design specifications. The thermal analysis predicts the maximum waveguide temperature in these regions and the amount of axial thermal expansion of the waveguide.
In addition, testing is done to determine the thermal contact conductance (TCC) between copper and aluminum surfaces with and without several candidate thermal contact materials. These results are used in the finite element analysis to model the ability to transfer heat across interfaces. The TCC test results make it clear that there is significant heat transfer between separate components, as the TCC between components is greater than 5 kW/m2K without thermal contact material and greater than 30 kW/m2K when thin graphite foil is used to increase the heat transfer ability. Therefore miter bends and miter bend mirrors are included as necessary in the finite element model.