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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.
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ANS Student Conference 2025
April 3–5, 2025
Albuquerque, NM|The University of New Mexico
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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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Latest News
First astatine-labeled compound shipped in the U.S.
The Department of Energy’s National Isotope Development Center (NIDC) on March 31 announced the successful long-distance shipment in the United States of a biologically active compound labeled with the medical radioisotope astatine-211 (At-211). Because previous shipments have included only the “bare” isotope, the NIDC has described the development as “unleashing medical innovation.”
W. B. Terney, E. A. Williamson, Jr.
Nuclear Science and Engineering | Volume 82 | Number 3 | December 1982 | Pages 260-288
Technical Paper | doi.org/10.13182/NSE82-4
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
A formal approach for the optimization of the final design of reload cores has been devised and verified. The method is based on applying the calculus of variations (Pontryagin’s principle) to the normal flux and depletion system equations. The resulting set of coupled system, Euler-Lagrange (E-L), and optimality equations are solved iteratively. This is done by assuming a loading pattern for the old fuel, first solving the system equations, and then the E-L equations. The pattern is then modified by using the optimality (or Pontryagin) condition, and the process is repeated until no further improvements can be made. A computer program, OPMUV, implementing these procedures has been written and verified. The code can handle two-dimensional, quarter-core symmetric configurations with up to 241 assemblies and 4 nodes per assembly with modified one-group theory. It also has the capability of optimizing over the entire depletion cycle as well as just at the beginning of cycle (BOC). The results show that the procedure does work. In all cases tried, the method led to a reduction in nodal peaks of 1 to 3% over the final designer-obtained loading pattern within a couple of iterations. These savings carry over to comparable reductions in pin peaks when the optimized patterns are used in four-group, fine-mesh calculations. Since the changes on each iteration are limited to ensure convergence, the method is thus well suited for the final fine tuning of the normally obtained patterns to gain an extra few percent in power flattening.
