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Aerospace Nuclear Science & Technology
Organized to promote the advancement of knowledge in the use of nuclear science and technologies in the aerospace application. Specialized nuclear-based technologies and applications are needed to advance the state-of-the-art in aerospace design, engineering and operations to explore planetary bodies in our solar system and beyond, plus enhance the safety of air travel, especially high speed air travel. Areas of interest will include but are not limited to the creation of nuclear-based power and propulsion systems, multifunctional materials to protect humans and electronic components from atmospheric, space, and nuclear power system radiation, human factor strategies for the safety and reliable operation of nuclear power and propulsion plants by non-specialized personnel and more.
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
TerraPower begins U.K. regulatory approval process
Seattle-based TerraPower signaled its interest this week in building its Natrium small modular reactor in the United Kingdom, the company announced.
TerraPower sent a letter to the U.K.’s Department for Energy Security and Net Zero, formally establishing its intention to enter the U.K. generic design assessment (GDA) process. This is TerraPower’s first step in deployment of its Natrium technology—a 345-MW sodium fast reactor coupled with a molten salt energy storage unit—on the international stage.
Dong H. Nguyen
Nuclear Technology | Volume 91 | Number 1 | July 1990 | Pages 61-74
Technical Paper | Safety of Next Generation Power Reactor / Fission Reactor | doi.org/10.13182/NT90-A34441
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
The design of the next generation of power reactors will emphasize passive safety and enhanced engineered systems. True passivity can be achieved by capitalizing on natural laws to restore reactor stability during an off-normal event. The most effective stabilizing mechanisms relying solely on natural laws— without human interference—are the feedback reactivities produced by a change in the reactor thermal state. During 1986 and 1987, an important research program was undertaken at the Fast Flux Test Facility (FFTF) to advance the understanding of feedback mechanisms and to investigate passive safety in liquid-metal reactors. The experimental program began with a series of static feedback reactivity measurements aimed at separating feedback components and ended with a demonstration of passive safety in a series of loss-of-flow-without-scram (LOFWOS) to natural circulation tests. Described here are (a) the fundamental experimental concepts used to unfold various feedback components, (b) the analysis of integral data used to construct feedback reactivity models, (c) the comparison of FFTF reactivities with mechanistic feedback models in the SASSYS/SAS4A code system, and (d) the pretest calculations for the LOFWOS test series, using the new FFTF feedback models.
