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Division Spotlight
Education, Training & Workforce Development
The Education, Training & Workforce Development Division provides communication among the academic, industrial, and governmental communities through the exchange of views and information on matters related to education, training and workforce development in nuclear and radiological science, engineering, and technology. Industry leaders, education and training professionals, and interested students work together through Society-sponsored meetings and publications, to enrich their professional development, to educate the general public, and to advance nuclear and radiological science and engineering.
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?
Richard Simms, Gerald E. Marsh, Alan B. Rothman, George S. Stanford
Nuclear Technology | Volume 52 | Number 3 | March 1981 | Pages 331-341
Technical Paper | Fission Reactor | doi.org/10.13182/NT81-A32707
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
In Transient Reactor Test Facility tests L6 and L7, a loss-of-flow accident sequence was simulated using three fuel elements containing (Pu, U)O2. The test fuel had been previously irradiated at 36 kW/m in a thermal-neutron spectrum in the General Electric Test Reactor to 3 at.% burnup. Fuel dispersal rates at 10 and 20 times nominal power were measured using the 1.2-m fast neutron hodoscope. The measured axial fuel density variations were weighted with typical liquid-metal fast breeder reactor fuel-worth distributions so that the significance of the fuel motion could be assessed. Fuel dispersal rates equivalent to 60¢/s per dollar were observed in test L7. The dispersal rate for test L6 was ∼20¢/s per dollar. The dispersive fuel motion in test L7 could have been augmented by fuel vapor pressures. The experimental fuel-worth changes were also compared with the fuel-worth changes computed by fuel motion models SLUMPY and LEVITATE. Of the two models, LEVITATE provided better agreement with the equivalent fuel-worth changes in test L7.
