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Division Spotlight
Education, Training & Workforce Development
The Education, Training & Workforce Development Division provides communication among the academic, industrial, and governmental communities through the exchange of views and information on matters related to education, training and workforce development in nuclear and radiological science, engineering, and technology. Industry leaders, education and training professionals, and interested students work together through Society-sponsored meetings and publications, to enrich their professional development, to educate the general public, and to advance nuclear and radiological science and engineering.
Meeting Spotlight
ANS Student Conference 2025
April 3–5, 2025
Albuquerque, NM|The University of New Mexico
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!
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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.
Hideaki Kuraishi, Tetsuo Sawada, Hisashi Ninokata, Hiroshi Endo
Nuclear Science and Engineering | Volume 138 | Number 3 | July 2001 | Pages 205-232
Technical Paper | doi.org/10.13182/NSE01-A2210
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
A self-consistent nuclear energy system (SCNES) can be a promising option as a future nuclear energy source. An SCNES should fulfill (a) efficient energy generation, (b) fuel production or breeding, (c) burning minor actinides with incinerating fission products, and (d) system safety. We focus on the system safety and present a simple evaluation model for the inherent and passive power stabilization capability of intact fast reactor cores under the conditions of an anticipated transient without scram (ATWS), i.e., self-controllability.The simple evaluation model is referred to as the "reactivity correlation model." The model assesses self-controllability of a core based on the capabilities of reactivity feedbacks to stabilize transient power and maintain temperatures within predefined safety limits. Here the safety limits are "no fuel failure" and "nonboiling of coolant."The reactivity correlation model was used to survey the self-controllability for metallic-fueled fast reactor cores. The survey was performed by selecting the core volume fractions of fuel, coolant, and structure; the arrangement of material compositions; and core configuration. A variety of reactor cores were examined, ranging from a standard 100-cm height to a flat 40-cm height. The effect of additions of sodium plena and channels, increased/decreased fuel volume fraction (Vf), loading 0 to 10 wt% minor actinides, and installing fission product-burning assemblies was also examined. The core performances were evaluated relative to tolerances against typical ATWSs, i.e., unprotected transient overpower and unprotected loss of flow. An optimum fast reactor core with the self-controllability as well as well-balanced tolerance against ATWSs resulted. The performance of this optimal core was examined for the other three prerequisites of a self-consistent nuclear energy system.