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Division Spotlight
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.
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.
H. R. Koslowski
Fusion Science and Technology | Volume 61 | Number 2 | February 2012 | Pages 96-103
Equilibrium and Instabilities | Proceedings of the Tenth Carolus Magnus Summer School on Plasma and Fusion Energy Physics | doi.org/10.13182/FST12-A13496
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
This article summarises the constraints for tokamak operation. The operating space is restricted by several limitations among which the plasma performance and hence the resulting fusion power has to be optimized. Hard limits which lead ultimately to a termination of the discharge and may damage the first wall as well as soft limits resulting in a reduction of the energy content (and the generated fusion power) of the plasma are described. The operational limits can be summarized in two general groups: excessive radiation from the plasma, and violation of global or local MHD stability boundaries.
