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Division Spotlight
Reactor Physics
The division's objectives are to promote the advancement of knowledge and understanding of the fundamental physical phenomena characterizing nuclear reactors and other nuclear systems. The division encourages research and disseminates information through meetings and publications. Areas of technical interest include nuclear data, particle interactions and transport, reactor and nuclear systems analysis, methods, design, validation and operating experience and standards. The Wigner Award heads the awards program.
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ANS Student Conference 2025
April 3–5, 2025
Albuquerque, NM|The University of New Mexico
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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
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.
V. Bykov, J. Zhu, A. Carls, J. Fellinger, P. van Eeten, H.-S. Bosch, L. Wegener
Fusion Science and Technology | Volume 72 | Number 4 | November 2017 | Pages 546-558
Technical Paper | doi.org/10.1080/15361055.2017.1352427
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
The largest modular stellarator Wendelstein 7-X (W7-X) has successfully passed commissioning and first phase of operation in Greifswald, Germany. The limiter configurations of plasma with 2.5 T of magnetic induction on the plasma axis produce already considerable loads (MN) in the W7-X systems. The sophisticated W7-X superconducting magnet system with its non-linear support system is instrumented with an extensive set of mechanical and temperature sensors. Measurement results showed that magnet system behavior is in good correspondence with original predictions from numerical models. However, several areas require modeling improvements and/or proper adjustment of parameters to reflect “as-built” situation. Moreover, high temperature dependence of strain gauge signal accuracy in the range below 10 K requires its compensation in order to avoid fault alarms during monitoring. The work is considered as benchmarking of numerical models and as a preparation for upcoming more demanding phases with longer plasma pulses to guarantee safe and reliable W7-X operation with different divertor configurations. Both results of W7-X measurements and implemented improvements as well as lessons learned so far are also given.