ANS is committed to advancing, fostering, and promoting the development and application of nuclear sciences and technologies to benefit society.
Explore the many uses for nuclear science and its impact on energy, the environment, healthcare, food, and more.
Division Spotlight
Thermal Hydraulics
The division provides a forum for focused technical dialogue on thermal hydraulic technology in the nuclear industry. Specifically, this will include heat transfer and fluid mechanics involved in the utilization of nuclear energy. It is intended to attract the highest quality of theoretical and experimental work to ANS, including research on basic phenomena and application to nuclear system design.
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
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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?
Constantine P. Tzanos
Nuclear Technology | Volume 55 | Number 3 | December 1981 | Pages 662-673
Technical Paper | Heat Transfer and Fluid Flow | doi.org/10.13182/NT81-A32811
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
Maximum cladding temperatures in heterogeneous liquid-metal fast breeder reactors (LMFBRs) can be reduced if the flow allocation between core and blanket assemblies is continuously varied during burnup. An analytical model has been developed that optimizes the time variation of the flow such that the reduction in maximum cladding temperatures is maximized. In addition, the concept of continuously varying the flow allocation between core and blanket assemblies has been evaluated for different fuel management schemes in a low sodium void reactivity 3000-MW heterogeneous LMFBR. This evaluation shows that (a) the reduction in maximum cladding midwall temperatures is small (~10°C) if the reactor is partially refueled at the end of each burnup cycle (cycle length of one year), and (b) this reduction is increased to 20°C if a straight burn fuel scheme is used with a core and internal blanket fuel residence time of two years.
