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Division Spotlight
Fusion Energy
This division promotes the development and timely introduction of fusion energy as a sustainable energy source with favorable economic, environmental, and safety attributes. The division cooperates with other organizations on common issues of multidisciplinary fusion science and technology, conducts professional meetings, and disseminates technical information in support of these goals. Members focus on the assessment and resolution of critical developmental issues for practical fusion energy applications.
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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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?
R. E. Williford, D. D. Lanning, C. L. Mohr
Nuclear Technology | Volume 56 | Number 2 | February 1982 | Pages 340-350
Nuclear Fuel | doi.org/10.13182/NT82-A32862
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
An alternate thermal-mechanical behavior model for cracked UO2 pelletized fuel is presented. It is recognized that fuel cracking and relocation cause some of the initial pellet-cladding gap (the “free area”) to be moved into the fuel in the form of cracks. The introduction of this free area into the fuel causes the fuel effective thermal conductivity and effective elastic moduli to be simultaneously reduced to values significantly less than laboratory data for solid pellets. Hooke’s Law and a crack compliance model are used to deduce the effective fuel conductivity and moduli from simultaneous in-reactor measurements of rod power, fuel center temperature, and cladding elongation. The fuel-cladding “gap” is considered as another “crack,” and is also described by the crack compliance model, which predicts that there is always some finite amount of fuel-cladding contact. The primary thermal mechanical feedback mechanism is found to be due to crack closure effects on fuel effective thermal conductivity, rather than gap closure effects on gap conductance.
