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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.
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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.
Douglas C. Wilson, Donald J. Dudziak, Glenn R. Magelssen, David S. Zuckerman, Daniel E. Driemeyer
Fusion Science and Technology | Volume 13 | Number 2 | February 1988 | Pages 333-338
Technical Paper | Heavy-Ion Fusion | doi.org/10.13182/FST88-A25107
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
The systems model for a commercial electric power facility produced by the Heavy-Ion Fusion System Assessment is used to study the sensitivity of electricity cost to various inertial confinement fusion target characteristics including gain, peak power, ion range, and target fabrication cost. Net electric power from the plant was fixed at 1000 MW(electric) to eliminate large effects caused by economies of scale. An improved target cost model is used and compared with earlier results. Although specific quantitative results changed, the earlier general conclusions remain valid. The system is moderately insensitive to target gain. A factor of 2.5 change in gain causes <10% change in electricity cost. Increased peak power needed to drive targets poses only a small cost risk but requires many more beamlets be transported to the target. Shortening the required ion range causes both cost and beamlet difficulties. A factor of 4 decrease in the required range at a fixed driver energy increases electricity cost by 43% and raises the number of beamlets from 34 to 330. Finally, the heavy-ion fusion system can accommodate large increases in target costs. While moderate target gain is required, to address the other major uncertainties target design should concentrate on understanding requirements for ion range and peak driver power.