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Division Spotlight
Nuclear Installations Safety
Devoted specifically to the safety of nuclear installations and the health and safety of the public, this division seeks a better understanding of the role of safety in the design, construction and operation of nuclear installation facilities. The division also promotes engineering and scientific technology advancement associated with the safety of such facilities.
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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Nuclear Technology
Fusion Science and Technology
May 2025
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.
B. H. Mills, J. D. Rader, D. L. Sadowski, S. I. Abdel-Khalik, M. Yoda
Fusion Science and Technology | Volume 60 | Number 1 | July 2011 | Pages 190-196
Divertor & High Heat Flux Components | Proceedings of the Nineteenth Topical Meeting on the Technology of Fusion Energy (TOFE) (Part 1) | doi.org/10.13182/FST11-A12350
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
The addition of fins to the cooled surface of gas-cooled divertor modules has been proposed as a means to enhance their thermal performance, in the HEMP concept, for example. Such fins enhance heat transfer by significantly increasing the surface area over which convection occurs. However, adding fins also increases pressure losses and manufacturing costs and can adversely affect coolant flow over the cooled surface. More importantly, the high heat transfer coefficients expected with helium (He) cooling may significantly lower the fin efficiency, thereby limiting the extent of heat transfer enhancement to values well below the increase in the area ratio. An experimental investigation was undertaken to quantify the extent of heat transfer enhancement and corresponding pressure loss increase associated with the addition of pin fins to the cooled surface of a modular, helium-cooled, finger-type divertor. Four test cases, including configurations similar to the HEMP and HEMJ concepts, were studied. The results show that the addition of fins to helium jet-cooled finger divertors may not provide enough heat transfer enhancement to justify the associated increases in design complexity and pressure loss. Generalized charts for the thermal performance of helium-cooled divertors have been developed; these allow the designers to estimate the maximum allowable heat flux and corresponding pressure drop for a specified set of operating conditions and maximum operating temperature.