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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.
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ANS Student Conference 2025
April 3–5, 2025
Albuquerque, NM|The University of New Mexico
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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.
L. L. Snead, K. J. Leonard, G. E. Jellison, Jr., Mohamed Sawan, Tom Lehecka
Fusion Science and Technology | Volume 56 | Number 2 | August 2009 | Pages 1069-1077
Fusion Materials | Eighteenth Topical Meeting on the Technology of Fusion Energy (Part 2) | doi.org/10.13182/FST09-26
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
Dielectric mirrors have been considered for both magnetic and inertial confinement systems. Such mirrors are comprised of multiple thin bi-layers of high and low refractive index materials deposited onto a substrate. Three dielectric mirror types were fabricated to reflect at the KrF laser wavelength of 248 nm and these mirrors irradiated at ∼ 175 °C in the dose range of 0.001 to 0.1 x 1025 n/m2 (E>0.1 MeV.) Mirror reflectivity was measured on as-irradiated and on 300 and 400 °C vacuum annealed mirrors. The best performing mirror overall, the alumina/silica multilayer mirror, did not appear to have degraded reflectivity in the as-irradiated or the as-irradiated and annealed conditions. For the highest dose, annealed condition degradation was observed in the hafnia silica mirror. Additionally, laser induced damage threshold was measured on the best performing mirror (the alumina/silica mirror) with a resulting threshold of > 1 J/cm2, For this mirror, the damage threshold was not discernibly degraded by neutron irradiation. These findings are somewhat in contradiction to earlier work, which suggested poor performance of dielectric mirrors at an order of magnitude lower neutron dose. In conclusion, the current findings, while preliminary, suggest the possibility for using dielectric mirrors to much higher dose levels.
