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Aerospace Nuclear Science & Technology
Organized to promote the advancement of knowledge in the use of nuclear science and technologies in the aerospace application. Specialized nuclear-based technologies and applications are needed to advance the state-of-the-art in aerospace design, engineering and operations to explore planetary bodies in our solar system and beyond, plus enhance the safety of air travel, especially high speed air travel. Areas of interest will include but are not limited to the creation of nuclear-based power and propulsion systems, multifunctional materials to protect humans and electronic components from atmospheric, space, and nuclear power system radiation, human factor strategies for the safety and reliable operation of nuclear power and propulsion plants by non-specialized personnel and more.
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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
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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
TerraPower begins U.K. regulatory approval process
Seattle-based TerraPower signaled its interest this week in building its Natrium small modular reactor in the United Kingdom, the company announced.
TerraPower sent a letter to the U.K.’s Department for Energy Security and Net Zero, formally establishing its intention to enter the U.K. generic design assessment (GDA) process. This is TerraPower’s first step in deployment of its Natrium technology—a 345-MW sodium fast reactor coupled with a molten salt energy storage unit—on the international stage.
Magdi M. H. Ragheb, Behzad Salimi
Fusion Science and Technology | Volume 2 | Number 1 | January 1982 | Pages 55-72
Technical Paper | Blanket Engineering | doi.org/10.13182/FST82-A20734
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
Tritiumless blanket designs, associated with a catalyzed deuterium-deuterium (D-D) fusion cycle and using a single high temperature solid pebble or falling bed zone, for process heat production, are proposed. Neutronics and photonics calculations, using the Monte Carlo method, show that an ∼90% heat deposition fraction is possible in the high temperature zone, compared to a 30 to 40% fraction if a deuterium-tritium (D-T) fusion cycle is used with separate breeding and heat deposition zones. Such a design is intended primarily for synthetic fuels manufacture through hydrogen production using high temperature water electrolysis. A system analysis involving plant energy balances and accounting for the different fusion energy partitions into neutrons and charged particles showed that plasma amplification factors in the range of 2 are needed. In terms of maximization of process heat and electricity production, and the maximization of the ratio of high temperature process heat to electricity, the catalyzed D-D system outperforms the D-T one by ∼20%. The concept is thought competitive to the lithium boiler concept for such applications, with the added potential advantages of lower tritium inventories in the plasma, reduced lithium pumping (in the case of magnetic confinement) and safety problems, less radiation damage at the first wall, and minimized risks of radioactive product contamination by tritium.