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Nuclear Criticality Safety
NCSD provides communication among nuclear criticality safety professionals through the development of standards, the evolution of training methods and materials, the presentation of technical data and procedures, and the creation of specialty publications. In these ways, the division furthers the exchange of technical information on nuclear criticality safety with the ultimate goal of promoting the safe handling of fissionable materials outside reactors.
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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.
Wenqing Wu, Yongjun Wei, Jingwen Ba, Yan Shi
Fusion Science and Technology | Volume 61 | Number 1 | January 2012 | Pages 81-85
Technical Paper | doi.org/10.13182/FST12-A13340
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
Protium-deuterium isotope separation and tritium enrichment experiments have been carried out under the condition of a total reflux cycle using a continuous twin-bed hydrogen isotope separation technique, i.e., a twin-bed periodically counter-current flow technique. Two beds were packed with Pd and LaNi4.7Al0.3, which show positive and inverse isotope effects, respectively. The separation efficiency was studied experimentally in terms of stoichiometry between hydrogen and adsorbents, cycles, and extraction ratio. The experimental results show that a steady distribution of hydrogen isotopes along the axial direction can be obtained within an operating period of three cycles and a 10% extraction ratio at a moderate H/Pd atomic ratio. The results of a tritium enrichment experiment carried out under optimized conditions indicate that good enrichment efficiency is possible using this method to separate a three-component gas when the extraction ratio is kept small. Since the column used in this experiment is relatively short, there is great potential for this method for meeting the requirements of large-scale operations if long columns or multi-bed combined systems are employed.