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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
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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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.
Klaus Krompholz, Erik Bodmann, Günter K. H. Gnirss, Horst Huthmann
Nuclear Technology | Volume 66 | Number 2 | August 1984 | Pages 371-379
C.5. Fracture Mechanic | Status of Metallic Materials Development for Application in Advanced High-Temperature Gas-Cooled Reactor / Material | doi.org/10.13182/NT84-A33440
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
The prototype nuclear process heat plant and the high-temperature gas-cooled reactor need materials that can withstand temperatures up to 1223K (950°C). An elaboration of fracture mechanics concepts that holds for the complete temperature regime must consider all possible phenomena like creep damage and precipitation during exposure, etc. In tests on the Inconel-617, Hastelloy-X, and Nimonic-86 alloys with respect to fatigue crack growth, creep crack growth, and toughness (J integral R curves) up to 1273 K (1000°C), the first creep crack growth results were obtained in helium to compare with the air results. It was shown that pure fatigue crack growth behavior can be described by linear elastic fracture mechanics up to 1273 K. An example of Hastelloy-X at 1223 K proves that evaluating fatigue crack growth according to the J integral concept gives, within a small scatterband, the same results as by following the linear elastic concept. Hastelloy-X shows a decreasing fracture toughness with increasing temperatures. It is emphasized that the J integral concept holds only if creep deformation can be neglected. The experimental evidence at highest temperatures shows that the J integral R curve is not at all similar to that found at lower temperatures under ideal conditions. Creep crack growth for Nimonic-86 at 1073 ≤ T/K ≤ 1273 shows that crack growth at 1223 K in helium is found to be larger than in air. Problems arise when correlating the creep crack growth results. The application of the energy rate integral C* seems promising, but this has yet to be proven. A combination of long-term creep with fatigue crack growth is presently impossible.