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Isotopes & Radiation
Members are devoted to applying nuclear science and engineering technologies involving isotopes, radiation applications, and associated equipment in scientific research, development, and industrial processes. Their interests lie primarily in education, industrial uses, biology, medicine, and health physics. Division committees include Analytical Applications of Isotopes and Radiation, Biology and Medicine, Radiation Applications, Radiation Sources and Detection, and Thermal Power Sources.
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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
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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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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.
Toshio Wakabayashi, Isao Minatsuki
Nuclear Science and Engineering | Volume 83 | Number 1 | January 1983 | Pages 50-62
Technical Paper | doi.org/10.13182/NSE83-A17988
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
The physical behavior of burnable poison fuel pins, containing 0.1, 0.5, and 1.0 wt% Gd2O3 in 1.5 wt% UO2 pellets, has been studied through the measurements of reactivity change, coolant void reactivity, local power distribution, and thermal neutron flux distribution including fine structure, using a heavy-water-moderated, cluster-type fuel lattice. A new technique for utilizing a burnable poison has been developed using a gadolinium absorber rod inserted into the center of the cluster-type fuel assembly. Its physical behavior has been studied through the measurements of accompanying reactivity change, coolant void reactivity, local power distribution, and thermal neutron flux distribution. When the Gd2O3 content of the fuel pellets is more than 0.5 wt%, the reactivity effect is reduced largely due to the saturation of the thermal neutron self-shielding effect in the poisoned fuel pin. A gadolinium absorber rod inserted in the center of the fuel assembly, although it causes a small increase in local power peaking, is effective in the control of the initial excess reactivity and favorably affects the coolant void reactivity. An accurate calculation by the WIMS-D code requires division of the fuel pellet region into more than five mesh intervals owing to the enhancement of the thermal neutron self-shielding effect due to absorption by the gadolinium in the poisoned fuel pins.