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Division Spotlight
Isotopes & Radiation
Members are devoted to applying nuclear science and engineering technologies involving isotopes, radiation applications, and associated equipment in scientific research, development, and industrial processes. Their interests lie primarily in education, industrial uses, biology, medicine, and health physics. Division committees include Analytical Applications of Isotopes and Radiation, Biology and Medicine, Radiation Applications, Radiation Sources and Detection, and Thermal Power Sources.
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ANS Student Conference 2025
April 3–5, 2025
Albuquerque, NM|The University of New Mexico
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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Fusion Science and Technology
Latest News
Norway’s Halden reactor takes first step toward decommissioning
The government of Norway has granted the transfer of the Halden research reactor from the Institute for Energy Technology (IFE) to the state agency Norwegian Nuclear Decommissioning (NND). The 25-MWt Halden boiling water reactor operated from 1958 to 2018 and was used in the research of nuclear fuel, reactor internals, plant procedures and monitoring, and human factors.
S. K. Combs, L. R. Baylor, C. R. Foust, A. Frattolillo, M. S. Lyttle, S. J. Meitner, S. Migliori
Fusion Science and Technology | Volume 68 | Number 2 | September 2015 | Pages 319-325
Technical Paper | Proceedings of TOFE-2014 | doi.org/10.13182/FST14-925
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
An existing pipe gun test facility at ORNL was used for an experimental study of propellant gas loads required for ITER-relevant pellet injection, with the key objective of determining the minimal amount of gas required for optimal pellet speeds. Two pellet sizes were tested, with nominal 4.4 and 3.2 mm diameters comparable to pellets planned for fueling and ELM pacing in ITER, respectively. A novel scheme was used to freeze solid pellets from room temperature gas; this facilitated operations at higher temperatures (14.5 to 16.5 K, similar to those planned for extruder operations for ITER pellet injectors) and thus lower pellet breakaway pressures and gas loads. Most of the single-shot D2 pellet tests were carried out with a relatively low H2 propellant gas load of ~0.0133 bar-L. Some limited testing was also carried out with a mixed propellant gas that consisted mostly of D2, which is more representative of the gas that will be used for ITER pellet injection. In testing it was found that this reference gas load resulted in pellet speeds in close proximity to a speed limit (~300 m/s) previously determined in a series of tests with D2 pellets shot through a mock-up of the curved guide tubes planned for the ITER installation (for pellet fueling from the magnetic high-field side). The equipment, operations, and test results are presented and discussed, with emphasis on the relevance for ITER operations.