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Division Spotlight
Reactor Physics
The division's objectives are to promote the advancement of knowledge and understanding of the fundamental physical phenomena characterizing nuclear reactors and other nuclear systems. The division encourages research and disseminates information through meetings and publications. Areas of technical interest include nuclear data, particle interactions and transport, reactor and nuclear systems analysis, methods, design, validation and operating experience and standards. The Wigner Award heads the awards program.
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.
Yousri Elkassabgi, Graydon L. Yoder, Wallace R. Gambill
Nuclear Technology | Volume 105 | Number 3 | March 1994 | Pages 411-420
Technical Paper | Heat Transfer and Fluid Flow | doi.org/10.13182/NT94-A34940
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
The Advanced Neutron Source Reactor (ANSR) is being designed to become the world’s most advanced reactor for neutron scattering research. It is both moderated and cooled by heavy water (D2O) and uses a core of highly enriched uranium silicide fuel in a plate geometry. During the refueling process of the ANSR, the spent fuel must be moved from within the primary coolant loop (containing D2O), through a pool of D2O, and finally into a light water spent-fuel storage area. This is accomplished by using a refueling tunnel and fuel transfer cask or lock. Some means of cooling the core, using either natural circulation or forced convection, must be accommodated during this process. Several thermal-hydraulic aspects of this refueling process have been studied. A modified version of the NATCON computer code developed at Argonne National Laboratory was used for the analysis. The NATCON code was revised and modified to incorporate improved friction and heat transfer correlations, and routines for the physical properties of D2O were added. The revised code can also accommodate a two-dimensional power density distribution. The results for the refueling process design show that ∼48 h is required to ensure the no-boiling condition. The addition of a short chimney reduces that time to ∼12 h.