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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.
Meeting Spotlight
ANS Student Conference 2025
April 3–5, 2025
Albuquerque, NM|The University of New Mexico
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
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.
Brian M. Patterson, Steven G. Young, Tana Morrow, Thomas Day, Derek Schmidt, Nikolaus L. Cordes
Fusion Science and Technology | Volume 79 | Number 7 | October 2023 | Pages 895-906
Research Article | doi.org/10.1080/15361055.2023.2185030
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
X-ray computed tomography (CT) is widely used in material science to understand the inner morphology of a specimen. Often, it is used to qualitatively understand the distribution of salient features such as cracks, voids, or particles. There are many challenges in using X-ray CT in a quantitative manner. These include a coarser resolution for comparable fields of view when compared to other imaging techniques (i.e., electron or optical microscopy), imaging artifacts (i.e., beam hardening and phase contrast), and the plethora of imaging and processing parameters that are chosen by the instrument/software user that can significantly affect the resultant measures. These limitations must be considered and quantified to acquire accurate and precise measurements. X-ray CT is powerful in that it can measure, in three dimensions, salient features that are subsurface and cannot be imaged with other direct line-of-sight imaging techniques. In this work, we discuss the use of X-ray CT to measure the thickness variations of thin walls of opacity capsules as well as the measurement of double-shell targets to understand the concentricity of the capsules within each other. Morphological measurements needed for target characterization require very high accuracy and precision. This paper will describe the application for the first time of a variety of measurements and will explore their robustness and pros and cons to identify areas of research to improve their accuracy and precision.