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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
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
Nuclear News 40 Under 40 discuss the future of nuclear
Seven members of the inaugural Nuclear News 40 Under 40 came together on March 4 to discuss the current state of nuclear energy and what the future might hold for science, industry, and the public in terms of nuclear development.
To hear more insights from this talented group of young professionals, watch the “40 Under 40 Roundtable: Perspectives from Nuclear’s Rising Stars” on the ANS website.
William J. Walters
Nuclear Science and Engineering | Volume 197 | Number 8 | August 2023 | Pages 2150-2160
Technical papers from: PHYSOR 2022 | doi.org/10.1080/00295639.2022.2161805
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
The centrifugal nuclear thermal rocket is a concept for a liquid-fueled nuclear system that would allow for a much higher specific impulse than the more traditional solid-fueled nuclear thermal propulsion designs. Although some preliminary neutronics analyses have been done on conceptual designs, this work seeks to perform a more systematic analysis and optimization of design parameters and to investigate additional neutronics properties such as power distributions and reactivity coefficients. This work used OpenMC for neutronics analysis and Dakota for the parametric study and optimization. Inter- and intra-fuel element power distributions were calculated, and a strong radial dependence was noted within fuel elements that may pose a challenge to thermal constraints. A positive moderator temperature coefficient of 3.78 0.16 pcm/K was calculated for the reference model, which may pose a challenge for system design and control. The optimization study of reflector size, fuel spacing, fuel mass, and fuel element radius indicated many trade-offs in the design considerations, and that the baseline model can be significantly improved in all respects. Positive reactivity feedback can be minimized by reducing moderation, and peaking factors can be reduced by limiting the amount of fuel per fuel element, which also minimizes the system mass.