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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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Penn State and Westinghouse make eVinci microreactor plan official
Penn State and Westinghouse Electric Company are working together to site a new research reactor on Penn State’s University Park, Pa., campus: Westinghouse’s eVinci, a HALEU TRISO-fueled sodium heat-pipe reactor. Penn State has announced that it submitted a letter of intent to host and operate an eVinci reactor to the Nuclear Regulatory Commission on February 28 and plans to engage with the NRC on specific siting decisions. Penn State already boasts the Breazeale reactor, which began operating in 1955 as the first licensed research reactor at a university in the United States. At 70, the Breazeale reactor is still in operation.
John B. Sampson, E. A. Luebke
Nuclear Science and Engineering | Volume 4 | Number 6 | December 1958 | Pages 745-761
doi.org/10.13182/NSE58-A15496
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
A fuel element consisting of plutonium and uranium oxide in steel tubing and capable of a large fraction of fuel burnup is described. As this fuel element makes possible recovery and refabrication with fewer steps than are required for a metal fuel element, lower recycle costs result. Breeders with fuel and fertile material in both oxide and metallic form were analyzed by the multigroup method on the UNIVAC for the purpose of comparing characteristics. A summary of the calculations is presented. The decrease in the breeding ratio resulting from the replacement of the metal core by oxide is only 0.2, a small effect in a future nuclear power economy where plutonium will have a low value as fuel rather than a high value as weapon material. Use of an oxide blanket may further reduce the breeding ratio by 0.05. An illustrative design is presented which has five atoms of uranium per atom of plutonium in the core and 45% sodium, a breeding ratio of 1.4 and a critical mass of 400 kg. Incremental refueling is assumed to reduce the control range required for 50% burnup of the original fuel loaded.