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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
2024 ANS Annual Conference
June 16–19, 2024
Las Vegas, NV|Mandalay Bay Resort and Casino
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
Securing the advanced reactor fleet
Physical protection accounts for a significant portion of a nuclear power plant’s operational costs. As the U.S. moves toward smaller and safer advanced reactors, similar protection strategies could prove cost prohibitive. For tomorrow’s small modular reactors and microreactors, security costs must remain appropriate to the size of the reactor for economical operation.
M. T. Farmer, C. Gerardi, N. Bremer, S. Basu
Nuclear Technology | Volume 196 | Number 3 | December 2016 | Pages 461-474
Technical Paper | doi.org/10.13182/NT16-43
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
The reactor accidents at Fukushima Daiichi have rekindled interest in late-phase severe accident behavior involving reactor pressure vessel breach and discharge of molten core melt into the containment. Two technical issues of interest in this area are core-concrete interaction and the extent to which the core debris may be quenched and rendered coolable by top flooding. The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development–sponsored Melt Coolability and Concrete Interaction programs at Argonne National Laboratory included the conduct of large-scale reactor material experiments and associated analysis with the objectives of resolving the ex-vessel debris coolability issue and addressing remaining uncertainties related to long-term two-dimensional molten core–concrete interactions under both wet and dry cavity conditions. These tests provided a broad database to support accident management planning as well as the development and validation of models and codes that can be used to extrapolate the experimental results to plant conditions. This paper provides a high-level overview of the key experimental results obtained during the program. A discussion is also provided of the technical gaps that remain in this area, several of which have arisen based on the sequence of events and operator actions during Fukushima.