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Division Spotlight
Nuclear Criticality Safety
NCSD provides communication among nuclear criticality safety professionals through the development of standards, the evolution of training methods and materials, the presentation of technical data and procedures, and the creation of specialty publications. In these ways, the division furthers the exchange of technical information on nuclear criticality safety with the ultimate goal of promoting the safe handling of fissionable materials outside reactors.
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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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?
M. M. H. Ragheb, R. T. Santoro, J. M. Barnes, M. J. Saltmarsh
Nuclear Technology | Volume 48 | Number 3 | May 1980 | Pages 216-232
Technical Paper | Reactor | doi.org/10.13182/NT80-A32469
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
The nuclear performance of a fusion-fission hybrid reactor having a molten salt composed of Na-Th-F-Be as the blanket fertile material and operating with a catalyzed deuterium-deuterium (DD) plasma is compared to a similar system utilizing a Li-Th-F-Be salt and operating with a deuterium-tritium (DT) plasma. The production of fissile fuel via the 232Th-233U fuel cycle was considered on the basis of its potential nonproliferation aspects. The calculations were performed using one-dimensional discrete-ordinates methods to compare neutron balances, fuel production rates, energy deposition rates, and the radiation damage in the reactor structure. The results indicate that the sodium salt in conjunction with the catalyzed DD plasma represents a viable alternative to the lithium salt and DT plasma. In a reactor consisting of a 42-cm-thick salt compartment followed by a 40-cm-thick graphite reflector, the sodium-salt-catalyzed-DD system exhibits a higher fissile nuclide production potential via Th(n,γ) reactions (0.880 reaction/source neutron) than the lithium-salt-DT system (0.737 reaction/source neutron) without the additional complication of tritium production in the blanket. Energy and material balances for driven fusion systems show that the DT and catalyzed DD options have comparable performances in terms of their capability to support fission reactor satellites with their fissile fuel needs.