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Division Spotlight
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.
Meeting Spotlight
International Conference on Mathematics and Computational Methods Applied to Nuclear Science and Engineering (M&C 2025)
April 27–30, 2025
Denver, CO|The Westin Denver 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!
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Latest News
Argonne’s METL gears up to test more sodium fast reactor components
Argonne National Laboratory has successfully swapped out an aging cold trap in the sodium test loop called METL (Mechanisms Engineering Test Loop), the Department of Energy announced April 23. The upgrade is the first of its kind in the United States in more than 30 years, according to the DOE, and will help test components and operations for the sodium-cooled fast reactors being developed now.
A. V. Burdakov et al.
Fusion Science and Technology | Volume 59 | Number 1 | January 2011 | Pages 9-16
doi.org/10.13182/FST11-A11564
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
The paper summarizes recent advances in physics of multiple-mirror confinement. GOL-3 in Novosibirsk is the only existing large-scale device of this type. Achieved plasma parameters are: n ~ 1021 m-3, T ~ 2 keV, E ~ 1 ms. Intense experimental and theoretical studies revealed several new collective phenomena that radically change plasma behavior in the trap as compared to simple classical theory. These phenomena are intrinsically linked to the second major feature of GOL-3, namely, fast plasma heating by a high-power relativistic electron beam. Collective beam-plasma interaction delivers energy to plasma through strong Langmuir turbulence and changes other plasma properties as well. In particular, the turbulent plasma in GOL-3 features suppressed axial heat transport, fast collective heating of ions, limitation of axial particle loss, and MHD stabilization by a magnetic shear. Mentioned phenomena greatly improve prospects of multiple-mirror confinement for fusion reactor applications. An outlook for possible fusion-scale device is presented.
