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Division Spotlight
Robotics & Remote Systems
The Mission of the Robotics and Remote Systems Division is to promote the development and application of immersive simulation, robotics, and remote systems for hazardous environments for the purpose of reducing hazardous exposure to individuals, reducing environmental hazards and reducing the cost of performing work.
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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May 2025
Latest News
Argonne’s METL gears up to test more sodium fast reactor components
Argonne National Laboratory has successfully swapped out an aging cold trap in the sodium test loop called METL (Mechanisms Engineering Test Loop), the Department of Energy announced April 23. The upgrade is the first of its kind in the United States in more than 30 years, according to the DOE, and will help test components and operations for the sodium-cooled fast reactors being developed now.
Thomas D. Radcliff, Shu-Pei Liu, Don W. Miller
Nuclear Technology | Volume 140 | Number 2 | November 2002 | Pages 209-221
Technical Paper | Nuclear Plant Instrumentation, Control, and Human-Machine Interface Technologies | doi.org/10.13182/NT02-A3334
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
A controlled-calorimetric in-core instrument that can directly measure nuclear energy deposition has been developed and tested. This instrument works by heating an element of reactor fuel to a constant temperature with an electric heater, such that input electrical power is inversely related to the deposited nuclear power. Tests on first-generation sensor prototypes and subsequent modeling showed three problems: lack of proportionality in the relative neutron and photon response, a relatively low bandwidth, and drift. A model of the sensor has been developed and used to optimize the design of second-generation prototypes with respect to these three problems. Study of the predicted relative neutron and gamma response showed that a nonuniform distribution of nuclear and electrical energy deposition caused the temperature distribution within the sensor to change as the ratio of the energy components varies. This affects sensor power proportionality and increases response time. Heat transfer through the sensor power leads was demonstrated to cause most of the observed drift. The proposed second-generation sensor design forces almost all of the temperature gradient into a thin metal axial region, which gives uniform energy distribution from all sources and better control of thermal leakage and contact resistances. This results in a prediction of increased bandwidth with improved proportionality.