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Division Spotlight
Materials Science & Technology
The objectives of MSTD are: promote the advancement of materials science in Nuclear Science Technology; support the multidisciplines which constitute it; encourage research by providing a forum for the presentation, exchange, and documentation of relevant information; promote the interaction and communication among its members; and recognize and reward its members for significant contributions to the field of materials science in nuclear technology.
Meeting Spotlight
International Conference on Mathematics and Computational Methods Applied to Nuclear Science and Engineering (M&C 2025)
April 27–30, 2025
Denver, CO|The Westin Denver Downtown
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
Argonne’s METL gears up to test more sodium fast reactor components
Argonne National Laboratory has successfully swapped out an aging cold trap in the sodium test loop called METL (Mechanisms Engineering Test Loop), the Department of Energy announced April 23. The upgrade is the first of its kind in the United States in more than 30 years, according to the DOE, and will help test components and operations for the sodium-cooled fast reactors being developed now.
R. Nyqvist, D. Anderson, M. Lisak
Nuclear Science and Engineering | Volume 163 | Number 1 | September 2009 | Pages 85-90
Technical Note | doi.org/10.13182/NSE163-85
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
Recently, an expansion of the Boltzmann scattering operator describing the angular spreading of particle beams was given that included the effects of large angle scattering processes, thus generalizing the classical Fokker-Planck equation, valid in the limit of small angle scattering. The present work aims at making an analytical comparison between predictions based on the classical Fokker-Planck equation and those based on a generalized one, which includes a first-order correction term in the expansion of the Boltzmann scattering operator. The analysis is carried out for thin slabs where backscattering effects can be neglected and makes use of a moment approach, which leads to an infinite system of recursively coupled ordinary differential equations. The system is truncated in a consistent manner, and the effects of large angle scattering on the evolution of the moments are determined in explicit analytical form. An approximate similarity solution of the generalized Fokker-Planck equation is also found, and the results of both approaches provide a clear picture of the increased diffusive beam spreading due to large angle scattering. A comparison with previously published Monte Carlo simulation results shows good agreement.