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Division Spotlight
Young Members Group
The Young Members Group works to encourage and enable all young professional members to be actively involved in the efforts and endeavors of the Society at all levels (Professional Divisions, ANS Governance, Local Sections, etc.) as they transition from the role of a student to the role of a professional. It sponsors non-technical workshops and meetings that provide professional development and networking opportunities for young professionals, collaborates with other Divisions and Groups in developing technical and non-technical content for topical and national meetings, encourages its members to participate in the activities of the Groups and Divisions that are closely related to their professional interests as well as in their local sections, introduces young members to the rules and governance structure of the Society, and nominates young professionals for awards and leadership opportunities available to members.
Meeting Spotlight
ANS Student Conference 2025
April 3–5, 2025
Albuquerque, NM|The University of New Mexico
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
X-energy, Dow apply to build an advanced reactor project in Texas
Dow and X-energy announced today that they have submitted a construction permit application to the Nuclear Regulatory Commission for a proposed advanced nuclear project in Seadrift, Texas. The project could begin construction later this decade, but only if Dow confirms “the ability to deliver the project while achieving its financial return targets.”
Raymond S. Troy, Robert V. Tompson, Tushar K. Ghosh, Sudarshan K. Loyalka
Nuclear Technology | Volume 191 | Number 1 | July 2015 | Pages 71-91
Technical Note | Fission Reactors | doi.org/10.13182/NT14-109
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
Characterization of graphite particles (dust) produced by the rotational abrasion that would occur in a shifting pebble bed reactor is of interest for purposes of maintenance, safety, and operation. To better understand this type of particle generation, we have modified and used our existing test apparatus to achieve rotational abrasion in a 1% to 5% relative humidity air environment. We have used both a commercial, nonnuclear-grade graphite (GM-101 from Graphtek, LLC) and a nuclear-grade graphite (MLRF1 from SGL Carbon, Ltd.). In both cases, we used two spheres with one being held stationary and with the other being rotated while under load and in contact with the first. We have obtained size distributions for the abraded particles. We have also fit lognormal functions to those size distributions (for use in nuclear computer codes); determined particle shapes; measured chamber temperature and humidity during the tests; measured and calculated wear rates of the spheres; measured the surface roughness of both pretest and posttest samples; and measured particle surface areas, pore volumes, and pore volume distributions of the particles produced during the abrasion of the graphite surfaces under different loadings and with different rotating speeds. We also carried out additional tests to measure the surface temperature near the contact point. The experiments showed that as loading (analogous to pebble depth in the reactor) and rotation speeds increase, so do wear rates, concentrations of particles, and particle surface area. The shape of the dust particles was in every case nonspherical, as one would expect. The surface area of bulk GM-101 graphite is ∼0.58 m2·g−1, and the surface area of bulk MLRF1 is ∼2.78 m2·g−1. After testing, abraded particle surface areas were observed to increase to 493 m2·g−1 for GM-101 and to 545 m2·g−1 for MLRF1. Wear rates of the spheres during testing were observed to range from 0.003 to 0.07 g min−1 per contact site. The upper limit on the size of the abraded particles that was observed was less than ∼4000 nm.
