ANS is committed to advancing, fostering, and promoting the development and application of nuclear sciences and technologies to benefit society.
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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
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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Nuclear Science and Engineering
May 2025
Nuclear Technology
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Latest News
TerraPower begins U.K. regulatory approval process
Seattle-based TerraPower signaled its interest this week in building its Natrium small modular reactor in the United Kingdom, the company announced.
TerraPower sent a letter to the U.K.’s Department for Energy Security and Net Zero, formally establishing its intention to enter the U.K. generic design assessment (GDA) process. This is TerraPower’s first step in deployment of its Natrium technology—a 345-MW sodium fast reactor coupled with a molten salt energy storage unit—on the international stage.
S. J. Altschuler, C. L. Schuske
Nuclear Technology | Volume 18 | Number 1 | April 1973 | Pages 55-62
Technical Note | Chemical Processing | doi.org/10.13182/NT73-A16107
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
Several factors that influence the design and capacity of a fissile metal storage vault are the size and shape of individual storage units, surface density, double batching of storage units, the effects of personnel upon storage array reactivity, and the possibility of water flooding of arrays. Calculations indicate that when the fissile material is elevated 12 in. or more above the concrete floor of the vault, keff is decreased 4 to 5% when 3 in. of water is upon the concrete floor. The effect of personnel reflection upon the reactivity of an array is a strong function of the mass of a fissile unit as well as the shape and orientation of this fissile unit with regard to the reflector. For example, when a heavy flat plate of metal is held edgewise against the reflector, the value of keff is 0.804. When the plate is held flat against the reflector, keff is 1.115. A considerable penalty on storage capacity will occur if controls cannot be developed to preclude the double batching and water flooding.