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Materials Science & Technology
The objectives of MSTD are: promote the advancement of materials science in Nuclear Science Technology; support the multidisciplines which constitute it; encourage research by providing a forum for the presentation, exchange, and documentation of relevant information; promote the interaction and communication among its members; and recognize and reward its members for significant contributions to the field of materials science in nuclear technology.
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ANS Student Conference 2025
April 3–5, 2025
Albuquerque, NM|The University of New Mexico
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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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Latest News
First astatine-labeled compound shipped in the U.S.
The Department of Energy’s National Isotope Development Center (NIDC) on March 31 announced the successful long-distance shipment in the United States of a biologically active compound labeled with the medical radioisotope astatine-211 (At-211). Because previous shipments have included only the “bare” isotope, the NIDC has described the development as “unleashing medical innovation.”
Dawk Hwan Ahn, Samuel H. Levine
Nuclear Technology | Volume 71 | Number 3 | December 1985 | Pages 535-547
Technical Paper | Fission Reactor | doi.org/10.13182/NT85-A33676
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
A new method has been developed to automatically reload and deplete a pressurized water reactor (PWR) so that both the enriched inventory requirements during the reactor cycle and the cost of reloading the core are minimized. This is achieved through four stepwise optimization calculations: (a) determination of the minimum fuel requirement for an equivalent three-region core model, (b) optimal selection and allocation of fuel assemblies for each of the three regions to minimize the reload cost, (c) optimal placement of fuel assemblies to conserve regionwise optimal conditions, and (d) optimal control through poison management to deplete individual fuel assemblies to maximize end-of-cycle keff. The new method differs from previous methods in that the optimization process automatically performs all tasks required to reload and deplete a PWR. In addition, the previous work that developed optimization methods principally for the initial reactor cycle was modified to handle subsequent cycles with fuel assemblies having burnup at beginning of cycle. Application of the method to the fourth reactor cycle at Three Mile Island Unit I has shown that both the enrichment and the number of fresh reload fuel assemblies can be decreased and fully amortized fuel assemblies can be reused to minimize the fuel cost of the reactor.