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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.
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ANS Student Conference 2025
April 3–5, 2025
Albuquerque, NM|The University of New Mexico
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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
Norway’s Halden reactor takes first step toward decommissioning
The government of Norway has granted the transfer of the Halden research reactor from the Institute for Energy Technology (IFE) to the state agency Norwegian Nuclear Decommissioning (NND). The 25-MWt Halden boiling water reactor operated from 1958 to 2018 and was used in the research of nuclear fuel, reactor internals, plant procedures and monitoring, and human factors.
Michael Philip Short, Ronald George Ballinger
Nuclear Technology | Volume 177 | Number 3 | March 2012 | Pages 366-381
Technical Paper | Nuclear Plant Operations and Control | doi.org/10.13182/NT12-A13481
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
A material system that resists lead-bismuth attack and retains its strength at very high temperatures has been developed that enables increased outlet temperature and the promise of allowing increased coolant velocity and efficiency of lead- and lead-bismuth-cooled reactors if the behavior reported here is confirmed by long-term tests. The development of this system represents an enabling technology for lead-bismuth-cooled reactors. The system is a functionally graded composite (FGC), with separate layers engineered to perform corrosion resistance and structural functions. Alloy F91 was chosen as the structural layer of the composite because of its strength and radiation resistance. An Fe-12Cr-2Si alloy was developed based on previous work in the Fe-Cr-Si system, and was used as the corrosion-resistant cladding layer because of its chemical similarity to F91 and its superior corrosion resistance in lead and lead-bismuth in both oxidizing and reducing environments. The availability of the FGC will have significant impacts on lead-bismuth reactor design. The allowable increases in outlet temperature and coolant velocity lead to a large increase in power density - either to a smaller core for the same power rating or to more power output for the same-size core. In this paper, we report on the overall design of the FGC. We also discuss the general implications for lead-bismuth-cooled reactor design. In a future paper, we will discuss the fabrication and the initial evaluation of the actual product produced using commercial processing methods.
