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Division Spotlight
Radiation Protection & Shielding
The Radiation Protection and Shielding Division is developing and promoting radiation protection and shielding aspects of nuclear science and technology — including interaction of nuclear radiation with materials and biological systems, instruments and techniques for the measurement of nuclear radiation fields, and radiation shield design and evaluation.
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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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.
Trevor L. Cook, Steven M. Mirsky
Nuclear Technology | Volume 76 | Number 1 | January 1987 | Pages 166-171
Fourth International Retran Meeting | Heat Transfer and Fluid Flow | doi.org/10.13182/NT87-A33907
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
As a part of the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission’s unresolved safety issue A-45 decay heat removal program, the Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL) performed a TRAC-PF1 simulation of the Calvert Cliffs Unit 1 pressurized water reactor in a cooldown to residual heat removal (RHR) entry conditions after a loss of off-site power (LOSP). A detailed four-loop TRAC model developed for the A-49 pressurized thermal shock program was used. The LANL results indicated an inability to both cool down and depressurize the primary system sufficiently to meet RHR entry conditions using only the atmospheric dump valves and auxiliary pressurizer spray. A RETRAN-02/MOD3 analysis was performed for the same transient, using assumptions consistent with those in the LANL analysis. A fast-running one-loop RETRAN model was selected because of the inherent symmetry of the transient. The RETRAN results compared well with sensitivity analyses indicating that the pressurizer model dominates the transient signatures. A best estimate RETRAN analysis of the cooldown was performed using a more accurate set of assumptions to better understand actual plant operational responses. These results indicate that RHR entry could be achieved after an LOSP using only existing plant equipment and procedures.