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.
Explore membership for yourself or for your organization.
Conference Spotlight
2026 ANS Annual Conference
May 31–June 3, 2026
Denver, CO|Sheraton Denver
Latest Magazine Issues
Apr 2026
Jan 2026
Latest Journal Issues
Nuclear Science and Engineering
May 2026
Nuclear Technology
February 2026
Fusion Science and Technology
Latest News
Westinghouse submits AP1000 design revision to NRC
Yesterday, the Nuclear Regulatory Commission announced that it has received an application from Westinghouse to renew and update the design certification (DC) for its AP1000 reactor. This application seeks to formally incorporate the lessons learned from the construction of Vogtle-3 and -4 into the design control document (DCD) of the AP1000.
This long-expected submittal builds on previous plans at both the NRC and Westinghouse for the future of gigawatt-scale light water reactor deployments in the United States.
Weiping Deng, Yanbin Zhang, Huan Jia, Tao Wan, Weifeng Yang, Chengwen Qiang, Long Li, Fei Wang, Honglin Ge, Fei Ma, Xueying Zhang
Nuclear Science and Engineering | Volume 196 | Number 7 | July 2022 | Pages 899-909
Technical Paper | doi.org/10.1080/00295639.2022.2027177
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
A granular flow target coupled with a beam window was studied. The beam window isolates the accelerator from the target, making the system more secure and flexible. Preliminary analyses for the beam window and beam tube, including neutronics, thermal hydraulics, and structural mechanics were performed by Geant4 and ANSYS. The effects of geometry and coolant flow direction on the temperature field and the stress distribution of the beam window are studied. The results show that the maximum temperature can be reduced by 13% through optimization. Comparing the thermal deposition distribution of the beam tube with and without the beam window, we find that there is an extra peak due to the beam window. In addition, the effect of the cooling pattern on the temperature distribution of the beam tube is also studied. The results show that it is reasonable to arrange six U-shaped cooling channels. Detailed analyses show that the material temperature and the mechanical property of the beam window and beam tube meet the design standards, which confirm the possibility of granular flow target with a beam window for engineering application.