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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
Conference on Nuclear Training and Education: A Biennial International Forum (CONTE 2025)
February 3–6, 2025
Amelia Island, FL|Omni Amelia Island Resort
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
Fermilab center renamed after late particle physicist Helen Edwards
Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory’s Integrated Engineering Research Center, which officially opened in January 2024, is now known as the Helen Edwards Engineering Center. The name was changed to honor the late particle physicist who led the design, construction, commissioning, and operation of the lab’s Tevatron accelerator and was part of the Water Resources Development Act signed by President Biden in December 2024, according to a Fermilab press release.
D. L. Youchison, J. M. Garde
Fusion Science and Technology | Volume 61 | Number 1 | January 2012 | Pages 322-328
Modeling and Simulations | Proceedings of the Fifteenth International Conference on Emerging Nuclear Energy Systems | doi.org/10.13182/FST61-1T-322
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
Refractory metallic foams can increase heat transfer efficiency in gas-to-gas and liquid metal-to-gas heat exchangers by providing an extended surface area for better convection, i.e. conduction into the foam ligaments providing a “fin-effect,” and by disruption of the thermal boundary layer near the hot wall and ligaments by turbulence promotion.We present the relative contributions of the heat transfer mechanisms stated above, and show how the design of a gas regenerator or liquid metal-to-gas heat exchanger can be optimized for use in high-temperature Brayton cycle applications for nuclear power generation or hydrogen production. Our results include temperature and thermal stress distributions for several densities of Nb1Zr, Mo and W foams compared to Cu. For instance, the simulations reveal that unconnected W foam can increase the convective heat transfer coefficient by almost a factor of two compared to an open rectangular channel and a factor of three if the foam ligaments are thermally connected to the sidewalls under the same flow conditions.The effect of ligament thermal conductivity is also highlighted by comparing the performance of W foams to identical Cu foams and the use of SiC foams in thermal barrier applications. The studies indicate that thermal stresses increase with foam density, but are not clearly correlated with pore cell size.For thermal management applications, the presence of the connected foam minimizes the thermal stresses in the wall, by concentrating them in the ligaments where the temperature gradients are higher. In addition, the large number of small connected ligaments provides a modest degree of compliance for thermal expansion of the hotter walls in relation to the colder portions of the heat exchanger. These CFD studies have led to design strategies for creating compact, high-temperature, high-pressure heat exchangers that are easily fabricated and perform better than plate-type heat exchangers.