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Division Spotlight
Accelerator Applications
The division was organized to promote the advancement of knowledge of the use of particle accelerator technologies for nuclear and other applications. It focuses on production of neutrons and other particles, utilization of these particles for scientific or industrial purposes, such as the production or destruction of radionuclides significant to energy, medicine, defense or other endeavors, as well as imaging and diagnostics.
Meeting Spotlight
International Conference on Mathematics and Computational Methods Applied to Nuclear Science and Engineering (M&C 2025)
April 27–30, 2025
Denver, CO|The Westin Denver Downtown
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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Nuclear Science and Engineering
June 2025
Nuclear Technology
Fusion Science and Technology
May 2025
Latest News
Argonne’s METL gears up to test more sodium fast reactor components
Argonne National Laboratory has successfully swapped out an aging cold trap in the sodium test loop called METL (Mechanisms Engineering Test Loop), the Department of Energy announced April 23. The upgrade is the first of its kind in the United States in more than 30 years, according to the DOE, and will help test components and operations for the sodium-cooled fast reactors being developed now.
A. V. Zhirkin, V. P. Budaev, A. V. Dedov, A. A. Glebova, A. O. Goltsev, A. T. Komov, B. V. Kuteev
Fusion Science and Technology | Volume 79 | Number 6 | August 2023 | Pages 703-722
Research Article | doi.org/10.1080/15361055.2023.2178869
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
The modern challenges of nuclear energy are the replenishment of dwindling reserves of nuclear fuel and the development of a closed nuclear fuel cycle while complying with strict radiation safety requirements. A fusion neutron source has unique capabilities to solve these problems. The preliminary results of a neutronic analysis of the FNS-C fusion-fission hybrid neutron source with a thorium-uranium aqueous blanket by the Monte Carlo method computer simulation, using the MCNP-4 code with the ENDF/B-VII cross-section library, gives satisfactory results for the study of the possibility of creating a compact source of fusion neutrons based on a small spherical tokamak for commercial use.
The obtained results show that the FNS-C hybrid blanket generates enough tritium to fully ensure the uninterrupted operation of the FNS-C throughout the year. The reproduction coefficient of 233U is 1.027 at a consumption of 1304 kg/year of the fissile material in the aqueous blanket containing 232Th enriched to 1.47% 233U. The FNS-C is operated with an effective neutron multiplication factor keff ~ 0.99 with reactivity ρ = –0.006249 in the presence of delayed neutrons, which corresponds to the safest state of the core of thermal neutron fission reactors. The thermal power of the FNS-C at keff ~ 0.99 is ~3 GW, which is comparable to the thermal power of fission reactors. This indicates the potential possibility of creating a safe thorium-uranium breeder power reactor based on a fusion neutron source. The results of the study were obtained for the simplified approximate geometrical FNS-C model. To confirm the preliminary results, it is necessary to develop a more accurate calculation model of the FNS-C machine.
