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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
Conference on Nuclear Training and Education: A Biennial International Forum (CONTE 2025)
February 3–6, 2025
Amelia Island, FL|Omni Amelia Island Resort
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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Jan 2025
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Nuclear Science and Engineering
February 2025
Nuclear Technology
January 2025
Fusion Science and Technology
Latest News
Reboot: Nuclear needs a success . . . anywhere
The media have gleefully resurrected the language of a past nuclear renaissance. Beyond the hype and PR, many people in the nuclear community are taking a more measured view of conditions that could lead to new construction: data center demand, the proliferation of new reactor designs and start-ups, and the sudden ascendance of nuclear energy as the power source everyone wants—or wants to talk about.
Once built, large nuclear reactors can provide clean power for at least 80 years—outlasting 10 to 20 presidential administrations. Smaller reactors can provide heat and power outputs tailored to an end user’s needs. With all the new attention, are we any closer to getting past persistent supply chain and workforce issues and building these new plants? And what will the election of Donald Trump to a second term as president mean for nuclear?
As usual, there are more questions than answers, and most come down to money. Several developers are engaging with the Nuclear Regulatory Commission or have already applied for a license, certification, or permit. But designs without paying customers won’t get built. So where are the customers, and what will it take for them to commit?
Mohamed A. Abdou
Nuclear Technology | Volume 29 | Number 1 | April 1976 | Pages 7-36
Technical Paper | Reactor | doi.org/10.13182/NT76-A16287
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
The various options and trade-offs in the nuclear design of the blanket/shield for a Tokamak Experimental Power Reactor (TEPR) are investigated. The TEPR size and cost are particularly sensitive to the blanket/shield thickness, ΔBS, on the inner side of the torus. Radiation damage to the components of the superconducting magnet and refrigeration power requirements set lower limits on ΔBS. These limits are developed in terms of TEPR desigpi parameters such as the wall loading, duty cycle, and frequency of magnet anneals. The study of the nuclear performance of various material compositions shows that mixtures of tungsten, or tantalum, or stainless-steel alloys and boron carbide require the smallest ΔBS for a given attenuation. This ΔBS has to be doubled if the low induced activation materials graphite and aluminum are used. The space problems are greatly eased in the Argonne National Laboratory ANL-TEPR reference design by using two separate segments of the blanket/shield. The inner segment occupies the region of the high magnetic field, uses very efficient attenuators (tungsten- or tantalum- or stainless-steel-boron carbide mixtures), and is only 1 m thick. The outer blanket/shield is 131 cm and consists of an optimized composition of stainless steel and boron carbide. For the design parameters of 0.2 MW/m2 neutron wall loading and 50% duty cycle, the reactor components can operate satisfactorily up to (a) 10 yr for the stainless-steel first wall, (b) 10 yr for the superconductor composite after which magnet warmup becomes necessary, and (c) 30 yr for the Mylar insulation. Nuclear heat generation rates in the blanket/shield and magnet are well within the practical limits for heat removal.
