ANS is committed to advancing, fostering, and promoting the development and application of nuclear sciences and technologies to benefit society.
Explore the many uses for nuclear science and its impact on energy, the environment, healthcare, food, and more.
Division Spotlight
Operations & Power
Members focus on the dissemination of knowledge and information in the area of power reactors with particular application to the production of electric power and process heat. The division sponsors meetings on the coverage of applied nuclear science and engineering as related to power plants, non-power reactors, and other nuclear facilities. It encourages and assists with the dissemination of knowledge pertinent to the safe and efficient operation of nuclear facilities through professional staff development, information exchange, and supporting the generation of viable solutions to current issues.
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!
Latest Magazine Issues
Apr 2025
Jan 2025
Latest Journal Issues
Nuclear Science and Engineering
May 2025
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.
M. Huguet, K. Dietz, J. L. Hemmerich, J. R. Last
Fusion Science and Technology | Volume 11 | Number 1 | January 1987 | Pages 43-70
Technical Paper | JET Project | doi.org/10.13182/FST87-A25000
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
The basic parameters of the Joint European Torus (JET) machine are presented together with the reasons that guided their choice. The design principles followed during the conceptual phase are also described. Existing technology and modular design were used as far as possible, with a view to reducing the technological risk and to make the machine easily maintained. For each of the main components of the machine, the design and manufacturing techniques are reviewed in some detail The vacuum vessel is an all-welded Inconel structure, bakable at 500°C, to achieve a base pressure in the range of 10-9 mbar at room temperature. The water-cooled magnet coils are made of copper with epoxy resin based insulation systems. The mechanical structure employed massive castings and stainless steel parts with high-precision machining. The assembly of the JET machine took 1 yr and used specially designed lifting and assembly jigs. The assembly and commissioning procedures are outlined for each component. The operating history of the vacuum vessel and associated systems, such as the pumping and bakeout systems, is presented. These systems have operated satisfactorily so far and have achieved their design specification in terms of the vacuum quality. The gas partial pressures in the vessel are typically 2 × 10-7 mbar for hydrogen and <10-9 mbar for impurities, at 230°C. The behavior of internal wall protection and limiters during the initial JET operation is described. Future plans are outlined that include graphite protection and a toroidal belt limiter. The advantages and drawbacks of wall conditioning techniques, such as pulse discharge cleaning, glow discharge cleaning, and carbonization are given. The JET toroidal field coils have been commissioned and used routinely up to their maximum design performances (i.e., 67 kA with a total energy dissipated per pulse of 5 GJ). Operation is monitored through an instrumentation system, which includes a short circuit detection system. The ohmic heating coils have also been commissioned to their maximum design performance. Some modification of these coils are envisaged in order to be able to extract the full flux swing during plasma operation. So far, the outer poloidal field coils have been used up to currents that are no more than one-third of their design values. This is because the plasmas achieved have a low β and do not require a large vertical field to maintain equilibrium.
