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Division Spotlight
Reactor Physics
The division's objectives are to promote the advancement of knowledge and understanding of the fundamental physical phenomena characterizing nuclear reactors and other nuclear systems. The division encourages research and disseminates information through meetings and publications. Areas of technical interest include nuclear data, particle interactions and transport, reactor and nuclear systems analysis, methods, design, validation and operating experience and standards. The Wigner Award heads the awards program.
Meeting Spotlight
Utility Working Conference and Vendor Technology Expo (UWC 2024)
August 4–7, 2024
Marco Island, FL|JW Marriott Marco Island
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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Nuclear Science and Engineering
August 2024
Nuclear Technology
Fusion Science and Technology
Latest News
ARPA-E announces $40 million to develop transmutation technologies for UNF
The Department of Energy’s Advanced Research Projects Agency–Energy (ARPA-E) announced $40 million in funding to develop cutting-edge technologies to enable the transmutation of used nuclear fuel into less-radioactive substances. According to ARPA-E, the new initiative addresses one of the agency’s core goals as outlined by Congress: to provide transformative solutions to improve the management, cleanup, and disposal of radioactive waste and spent nuclear fuel.
Gabriele Ferrero, Raffaella Testoni, Massimo Zucchetti
Nuclear Science and Engineering | Volume 198 | Number 4 | April 2024 | Pages 898-913
Research Article | doi.org/10.1080/00295639.2023.2219815
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
Molten salt systems have become of growing interest in the energy industry due to a wide range of applications (concentrated solar power systems, energy storage, Generation IV fission reactors, and high magnetic field fusion reactors). Because of the high temperature that characterizes such materials, radiative heat transfer (RHT) may become a nonnegligible heat transfer mechanism in molten salt components. In this paper, an investigation of FLiBe RHT has been conducted, with a focus on Affordable, Robust, Compact (ARC)–class fusion reactors, a preconceptual design proposed by Commonwealth Fusion Systems and the Plasma Science and Fusion Center. This class of reactors largely employs FLiBe molten salt due to its thermal and neutronic properties. The reactor is characterized by high temperatures, and its 0.5-m-thick liquid immersion blanket is a component where RHT contribution to the temperature distribution is yet to be evaluated. Therefore, this study is the first work that quantifies the contribution of RHT in ARC-class reactor FLiBe systems. FLiBe optical property spectral-banding assessment is carried out, and the impact of RHT in FLiBe systems is assessed in operational ARC-class scenarios through computational fluid dynamics models by taking advantage of COMSOL® Multiphysics. Heat transfer, thermal-dependent properties, and buoyancy effects are considered in a comparison between scenarios with and without RHT modeling. The flow field in the tank is unaffected by RHT effects, even when considering buoyancy effects. The external layer of the vacuum vessel shows an average decrease in the temperature of 5.4 K and an average decrease in temperature on the surface in contact with the FLiBe tank of 8.1 K. Results indicate that for ARC-class reactors, RHT phenomena are negligible (<1% increase in heat transfer) in operational conditions.