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Division Spotlight
Human Factors, Instrumentation & Controls
Improving task performance, system reliability, system and personnel safety, efficiency, and effectiveness are the division's main objectives. Its major areas of interest include task design, procedures, training, instrument and control layout and placement, stress control, anthropometrics, psychological input, and motivation.
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
NRC engineers share their expertise at the University of Puerto Rico
Robert Roche-Rivera and Marcos Rolón-Acevedo are licensed professional engineers who work at the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission. They are also alumni of the University of Puerto Rico–Mayagüez (UPRM) and have been sharing their knowledge and experience with students at their alma mater since last year, serving as adjunct professors in the university’s Department of Mechanical Engineering. During the 2023–2024 school year, they each taught two courses: Fundamentals of Nuclear Science and Engineering, and Nuclear Power Plant Engineering.
Adrian S. Sabau, Kazutoshi Tokunaga, Michael G. Littleton, James O. Kiggans, Jr., Charles R. Schaich, Ralph B. Dinwiddie, Daniel T. Moore, Yoshio Ueda, Yutai Katoh
Fusion Science and Technology | Volume 75 | Number 7 | October 2019 | Pages 690-701
Technical Paper | doi.org/10.1080/15361055.2019.1623571
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
Assessing the effect of neutron irradiation of plasma-facing materials has been challenging due to both the technical and radiological challenges involved. In an effort to address the radiological challenges, a facility was developed to conduct high heat flux testing (HHFT) of inherently small samples of neutron-irradiated materials. A new line-focus reflector was designed and fabricated at Oak Ridge National Laboratory for a plasma-arc lamp (PAL) to attain a source heat flux of 12 MW/m2. The new reflector was fabricated with two ports for monitoring specimen condition during HHFT. At the same operational conditions for PAL, the absorbed heat flux in tungsten was increased from 1.39 MW/m2 with the uniform irradiance reflector to 5.12 MW/m2 for the line-focus reflector. This fourfold increase in the heat flux, at the same PAL electrode lifetimes, enabled cost-effective facility operation for a high number of cyclic high heat flux tests. Specifically, the test section is confined to a hemispherical dome, and specimens are bolted directly to a water-cooled copper alloy rod. Temperature measurement in the PAL facility was a main challenge due to a limited line of sight. For the first time in a PAL facility operating at high heat fluxes, the specimen surface temperature was directly measured during HHFT with a pyrometer. The HHFT data, which were obtained in this upgraded PAL facility, demonstrated the facility readiness for irradiated materials.