ANS is committed to advancing, fostering, and promoting the development and application of nuclear sciences and technologies to benefit society.
Explore the many uses for nuclear science and its impact on energy, the environment, healthcare, food, and more.
Division Spotlight
Materials Science & Technology
The objectives of MSTD are: promote the advancement of materials science in Nuclear Science Technology; support the multidisciplines which constitute it; encourage research by providing a forum for the presentation, exchange, and documentation of relevant information; promote the interaction and communication among its members; and recognize and reward its members for significant contributions to the field of materials science in nuclear technology.
Meeting Spotlight
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
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!
Latest Magazine Issues
Apr 2025
Jan 2025
Latest Journal Issues
Nuclear Science and Engineering
June 2025
Nuclear Technology
Fusion Science and Technology
May 2025
Latest News
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.
Amir N. Nahavandi
Nuclear Science and Engineering | Volume 36 | Number 2 | May 1969 | Pages 159-188
Technical Paper | doi.org/10.13182/NSE69-A19715
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
A generalized digital computer approach to analyze the loss-of-coolant accident in pressurized water reactors requires a systematic specification of the plant geometric, physical, and topological characteristics and initial conditions. The solution of the problem is hampered by numerical stability and convergence problems which can be remedied by first classifying the problem variables into three categories: 1) numerically-integrated; 2) analytically-integrated; and 3) auxiliary algebraic variables. Second, in view of the occurrence of the acoustic wave phenomenon, the maximum allowable integration time step should be kept much smaller than the subharmonics present in the solution. Another distinctive feature of this study is the treatment of stratified elements, such as the pressurizer or the steam generator secondary. Allowance for mass exchange between the top and bottom control volumes in these elements is made by the introduction of bubble rise and condensate drop velocity concepts. Furthermore, to eliminate unrealistic pressure fluctuations in the ruptured elements at the onset of two-phase blowdown, critical flow models including inertia effects are introduced. To verify the sensitivity of the solution to various two-phase frictional loss correlations, five well-known correlations are reviewed. A comparison of the analytical results against LOFT experimental data demonstrates a good agreement and shows that a more accurate prediction would require the introduction of metastability analysis.