ANS is committed to advancing, fostering, and promoting the development and application of nuclear sciences and technologies to benefit society.
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Division Spotlight
Thermal Hydraulics
The division provides a forum for focused technical dialogue on thermal hydraulic technology in the nuclear industry. Specifically, this will include heat transfer and fluid mechanics involved in the utilization of nuclear energy. It is intended to attract the highest quality of theoretical and experimental work to ANS, including research on basic phenomena and application to nuclear system design.
Meeting Spotlight
Utility Working Conference and Vendor Technology Expo (UWC 2024)
August 4–7, 2024
Marco Island, FL|JW Marriott Marco Island
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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Jul 2024
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Nuclear Science and Engineering
August 2024
Nuclear Technology
Fusion Science and Technology
Latest News
ARPA-E announces $40 million to develop transmutation technologies for UNF
The Department of Energy’s Advanced Research Projects Agency–Energy (ARPA-E) announced $40 million in funding to develop cutting-edge technologies to enable the transmutation of used nuclear fuel into less-radioactive substances. According to ARPA-E, the new initiative addresses one of the agency’s core goals as outlined by Congress: to provide transformative solutions to improve the management, cleanup, and disposal of radioactive waste and spent nuclear fuel.
Paul K. Chan, Stephane Paquette, Hugues W. Bonin
Nuclear Technology | Volume 191 | Number 1 | July 2015 | Pages 1-14
Technical Paper | Fuel Cycle and Management | doi.org/10.13182/NT14-67
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
A CANDU lattice cell has been modeled using the Los Alamos National Laboratory's MCNP 6 code and Atomic Energy of Canada Limited's WIMS-AECL 3.1. Models for the CANDU 37-element fuel bundle have included a CANLUB coating, as a carrier for the neutron absorbers. The objective is to improve CANDU reactor operating margins by adding small amounts (∼1 g) of neutron absorbers to each fuel element.
For CANDU natural uranium fuel bundle design, the results indicate that (a) the fueling transient (due to the xenon-free effect) could be significantly reduced using gadolinium oxide (Gd2O3), with no significant impact on fuel burnup, and (b) the reactivity peak (due to plutonium production) could be reduced using europium oxide (Eu2O3), with minimal impact on fuel burnup. An appropriate mixture of Gd2O3 and Eu2O3 that will improve operation and safety margins while having a minimal impact on fuel burnup is determined.
Reactivity and power calculations for various mixtures of Gd2O3 and Eu2O3 are reported here. It is concluded that ∼180 mg Gd2O3 and ∼1000 mg Eu2O3 (∼4.9 ×10−3 wt% per bundle) are sufficient to suppress the refueling transient and lower the axial plutonium peak, with a 0.27% burnup penalty (which is a small impact).
Fuel safety and performance are always important topics for a nuclear utility. This approach of a relatively simple application of burnable poisons to existing CANDU natural uranium fuel design offers the benefits of improving fuel utilization and safety margins.