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Division Spotlight
Thermal Hydraulics
The division provides a forum for focused technical dialogue on thermal hydraulic technology in the nuclear industry. Specifically, this will include heat transfer and fluid mechanics involved in the utilization of nuclear energy. It is intended to attract the highest quality of theoretical and experimental work to ANS, including research on basic phenomena and application to nuclear system design.
Meeting Spotlight
Utility Working Conference and Vendor Technology Expo (UWC 2024)
August 4–7, 2024
Marco Island, FL|JW Marriott Marco Island
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
Vogtle-3 shuts down for valve issue
One of the new Vogtle units in Georgia was shut down unexpectedly on Monday last week for a valve issue that has since been investigated and repaired. According to multiple local news outlets, Georgia Power reported on July 17 that Unit 3 was back in service.
Southern Company spokesperson Jacob Hawkins confirmed that Vogtle-3 went off line at 9:25 p.m. local time on July 8 “due to lowering water levels in the steam generators caused by a valve issue on one of the three main feedwater pumps.”
Peter S. Ebey, James K. Hoffer
Fusion Science and Technology | Volume 35 | Number 2 | March 1999 | Pages 250-254
Technical Paper | doi.org/10.13182/FST99-A11963932
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
Following the successful pressure loading with DT of a thin-walled plastic inertial fusion target shell (such as those designed for use at the OMEGA facility at the University of Rochester's Laboratory for Laser Energetics (UR/LLE)), continual care must be taken to safeguard the shell from being exposed to unacceptable pressure differentials across its wall. In particular, once the DT has been condensed into a liquid or solid phase and the outside pressure has been reduced, the target must be maintained below some upper cutoff temperature such that the vapor pressure of the DT is below the bursting pressure for the shell. Through the process of β-decay the DT self-heats, but while the shell is in a high vacuum environment (P << 0.8 Pa (6 mtorr) for the OMEGA layering sphere) there is only a negligible heat loss mechanism. This will cause the temperature to increase. A calculation has been done to estimate the rate of temperature increase of the loaded target under high vacuum conditions. A functional form for calculating the target's temperature increase given its starting temperature is presented. An overall result is that under high vacuum conditions the DT changes from a solid at 10 K to a liquid at 37 K (Tc=39.4 K) in about 19 minutes. This “holding time” is significantly less if the initial temperature is higher, the initial state is liquid, or the upper allowed temperature is lower. Simplifying assumptions which were made and their impact on interpreting the results of this calculation are discussed.