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Division Spotlight
Operations & Power
Members focus on the dissemination of knowledge and information in the area of power reactors with particular application to the production of electric power and process heat. The division sponsors meetings on the coverage of applied nuclear science and engineering as related to power plants, non-power reactors, and other nuclear facilities. It encourages and assists with the dissemination of knowledge pertinent to the safe and efficient operation of nuclear facilities through professional staff development, information exchange, and supporting the generation of viable solutions to current issues.
Meeting Spotlight
Conference on Nuclear Training and Education: A Biennial International Forum (CONTE 2025)
February 3–6, 2025
Amelia Island, FL|Omni Amelia Island Resort
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
Senate committee hears from energy secretary nominee Chris Wright
Chris Wright, president-elect Trump’s pick to lead the U.S. Department of Energy, spent hours today fielding questions from members of the U.S. Senate’s committee on Energy and Natural Resources.
During the hearing, Wright—who’s spent most of his career in fossil fuels—made comments in support of nuclear energy and efforts to expand domestic generation in the near future. Asked what actions he would take as energy secretary to improve the development and deployment of SMRs, Wright said: “It’s a big challenge, and I’m new to government, so I can’t list off the five levers I can pull. But (I’ve been in discussions) about how to make it easier to research, to invest, to build things. The DOE has land at some of its facilities that can be helpful in this regard.”
Won S. Park, Yong H. Kim, Chang K. Park, Jong S. Chung, Chang H. Kim
Nuclear Science and Engineering | Volume 143 | Number 2 | February 2003 | Pages 188-201
Technical Paper | doi.org/10.13182/NSE03-A2329
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
A design study for the fission product (FP) target was performed to maximize the transmutation of 99Tc and 129I in the Hybrid Power Extraction Reactor (HYPER) system without causing any core safety concerns. Localized thermal flux is obtained by inserting moderators such as CaH2. Many types of target design concepts have been investigated. The concept where 99Tc is loaded as a plate type in the outermost region and 129I is loaded as NaI rods mixed with CaH2 rods in the inner region is concluded to be the most effective in terms of transmutation rate and core power peaking. The proposed FP target is estimated to have a net transmutation rate of 5.53%/effective full-power year (EFPY) and 11.41%/EFPY for 99Tc and 129I, respectively, which are much higher compared to the transmutation rates in other fast neutron systems. In addition, the support ratios of the HYPER system for 99Tc and 129I are 5.7 and 4.0, respectively, very similar to the support ratio of TRU. The maximum pin power peaking with the loading of the FP target is 1.232, which is within the acceptable range. The loading of the FP target increases the inventory of TRU and makes the core coolant void coefficient more negative but the Doppler coefficient less negative. The proposed FP target configuration causes no safety problems in terms of core neutronics.