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Radiation Protection & Shielding
The Radiation Protection and Shielding Division is developing and promoting radiation protection and shielding aspects of nuclear science and technology — including interaction of nuclear radiation with materials and biological systems, instruments and techniques for the measurement of nuclear radiation fields, and radiation shield design and evaluation.
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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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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.
I. N. Sviatoslavsky, M. E. Sawan, R. R. Peterson, G. L. Kulcinski, J. J. MacFarlane, L. J. Wittenberg, H. Y. Khater, E. A. Mogahed, S. C. Rutledge, Sunil Ghose, Robert Bourque
Fusion Science and Technology | Volume 21 | Number 3 | May 1992 | Pages 1470-1474
Inertial Fusion Reactor Studies | doi.org/10.13182/FST92-A29928
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
The SOMBRERO inertial fusion reactor conceptual design study is of a 1000 MWe KrF laser driven near symmetric illumination system which utilizes a Li2O solid breeder moving bed in a blanket made entirely of low activation carbon/carbon composite material. The Li2O particles flow through the various parts of the blanket under gravity, then are transported through an intermediate heat exchanger and around the loop in a fluidized state by helium gas at 0.2 MPa. Liquid lead is used in the intermediate loop, going to a steam generator and a double reheat steam power cycle. There are 60 beams in the near symmetric illumination configuration. The laser energy is 3.4 MJ, the target gain 118 and the rep-rate 6.7 Hz. At the mid-plane, the blanket thickness is 1 m giving a tritium breeding ratio of 1.25 and an overall energy multiplication of 1.08. The first wall is at 6.5 m radius and is protected from x-rays and ions by 0.5 torr of Xe gas. Grazing incidence metallic mirrors are located at a distance of 30 m and dielectric final focusing mirrors at 50 m from the target Source neutrons are directed into neutron traps located in line with the grazing incidence mirrors. The final focusing mirrors which are out of line of sight of source neutron are subjected to low energy scattered neutrons only and can survive the 30 full power year reactor lifetime. The Li2O particles enter the chamber at 550°C and exit at an average temperature of 740°C, giving a power cycle efficiency of 47%. The gross power output is 1360 MW and for a 7% laser efficiency, the driver power is 325 MWe, with the remaining 35 MWe used for auxiliary equipment. The chamber and shield qualify for near surface burial as Class A waste while the Li2O breeder, as Class C waste.
