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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
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
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.
Sung Jin Lee, Chan Y. Paik, Robert E. Henry, Michael Epstein, Martin G. Plys
Nuclear Technology | Volume 125 | Number 2 | February 1999 | Pages 182-196
Technical Paper | Reactor Safety | doi.org/10.13182/NT99-A2941
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
The Modular Accident Analysis Program Version 4 (MAAP4) is an integrated severe accident analysis code that integrates a large number of phenomena and models into a single plant simulation. MAAP4 was used to predict the containment response to a simulated small-break loss-of-coolant accident steam blowdown followed by the release of a hydrogen/helium gas mixture (test E11.2) in the decommissioned German Heiss Dampf Reaktor facility. The test also incorporated external spray cooling of the steel dome near the end of the transient. In MAAP4, 29 nodes and 44 flow junctions were used to model the highly compartmentalized containment. The MAAP4 prediction of the containment pressure and gas temperature over the duration of the transient and the transient distribution of hydrogen/helium in the containment compartments are compared with experimental results. MAAP4 overpredicts the pressure and correctly predicts the thermal and hydrogen stratification that was observed in the E11.2 test.