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Division Spotlight
Robotics & Remote Systems
The Mission of the Robotics and Remote Systems Division is to promote the development and application of immersive simulation, robotics, and remote systems for hazardous environments for the purpose of reducing hazardous exposure to individuals, reducing environmental hazards and reducing the cost of performing work.
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
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.
George C. Vlases, D. S. Rowe, the Firebird Design Team
Fusion Science and Technology | Volume 9 | Number 1 | January 1986 | Pages 116-135
Technical Paper | doi.org/10.13182/FST86-A24707
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
A compact fusion reactor design with magnetic confinement based on a field-reversed configuration is described. The reactor is linear and operates in a pulsed mode where the plasma moves as a translating “plasmoid” through the burn chamber. The plasma physics model incorporates recent theoretical and experimental results on confinement. The design is compact and its power output is limited by first-wall and blanket technology. A helium-cooled solid breeder blanket is used for tritium breeding and thermal energy removal. A graphite thermal shield is included to reduce the energy generation and resulting first-wall stresses during pulsed operation. These studies indicate that attractive designs in the range of 300 to 1000 MW(electric) are possible, provided that currently understood scaling laws extrapolate favorably into the reactor regime. Multidimensional neutronics analysis indicates tritium breeding ratios >1.0.