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Robotics & Remote Systems
The Mission of the Robotics and Remote Systems Division is to promote the development and application of immersive simulation, robotics, and remote systems for hazardous environments for the purpose of reducing hazardous exposure to individuals, reducing environmental hazards and reducing the cost of performing work.
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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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Latest News
Argonne research aims to improve nuclear fuel recycling and metal recovery
Servis
Scientists at Argonne National Laboratory are investigating a used nuclear fuel recycling technology that could lead to a scaled-down and more efficient approach to metal recovery, according to a recent news article from the lab. The research, led by Argonne radiochemist Anna Servis with funding from the Department of Energy’s Advanced Research Projects Agency–Energy (ARPA-E), could have an impact beyond the nuclear fuel cycle and improve other high-value metal processing, such as rare earth recovery, according to Argonne.
The research: Servis’s work is being carried out under ARPA-E’s CURIE (Converting UNF Radioisotopes Into Energy) program. The specific project—Radioisotope Capture Intensification Using Rotating Packed Bed Contactors—started in 2023 and is scheduled to end in January 2026.
Sergey Smolentsev, Thomas Rognlien, Mark Tillack, Lester Waganer, Charles Kessel
Fusion Science and Technology | Volume 75 | Number 8 | November 2019 | Pages 939-958
Technical Paper | doi.org/10.1080/15361055.2019.1610649
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
The Fusion Energy System Studies (FESS) Fusion Nuclear Science Facility (FNSF) project team in the United States is examining the use of liquid metals (LMs) for plasma-facing components (PFCs). Our approach has been to utilize an already established fusion design, FESS-FNSF, which is a tokamak-based machine with 518 MW fusion power, a 4.8-m major radius, a 1.2-m minor radius, and a machine average neutron wall loading of ~1 MW/m2. For this design, we propose a PFC concept that integrates a flowing LM first wall (FW) and an open-surface divertor. The flowing LM first removes the surface heat flux from the FW and then proceeds to the lower section of the vacuum chamber to form a large area LM surface for absorbing high peak surface heat flux in the divertor region. In pursuing the application of large open LM surfaces in the FNSF, two new computer codes have been developed and then applied to the analysis of free-surface magnetohydrodynamic flows and heat transfer, including fast thin flowing liquid layers over the solid FW (liquid wall), a tublike divertor, and a fast flow divertor. The analysis is aimed at optimization of the liquid wall design by matching certain proposed design criteria and also at evaluation of the maximum heat fluxes, using liquid lithium (Li) as a working fluid. It was demonstrated that the flowing Li FW (at ~2 cm and ~10 m/s) can tolerate a surface heat flux of ~1 MW/m2, while the open-surface Li divertor can remove a maximum high peak heat flux of 10 MW/m2. The paper also focuses on the underlying science. One such example is the evaluation and characterization of heat transfer mechanisms and heat transfer intensification in the tublike Li divertor.