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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.
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ANS Student Conference 2025
April 3–5, 2025
Albuquerque, NM|The University of New Mexico
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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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Colin Judge: Testing structural materials in Idaho’s newest hot cell facility
Idaho National Laboratory’s newest facility—the Sample Preparation Laboratory (SPL)—sits across the road from the Hot Fuel Examination Facility (HFEF), which started operating in 1975. SPL will host the first new hot cells at INL’s Materials and Fuels Complex (MFC) in 50 years, giving INL researchers and partners new flexibility to test the structural properties of irradiated materials fresh from the Advanced Test Reactor (ATR) or from a partner’s facility.
Materials meant to withstand extreme conditions in fission or fusion power plants must be tested under similar conditions and pushed past their breaking points so performance and limitations can be understood and improved. Once irradiated, materials samples can be cut down to size in SPL and packaged for testing in other facilities at INL or other national laboratories, commercial labs, or universities. But they can also be subjected to extreme thermal or corrosive conditions and mechanical testing right in SPL, explains Colin Judge, who, as INL’s division director for nuclear materials performance, oversees SPL and other facilities at the MFC.
SPL won’t go “hot” until January 2026, but Judge spoke with NN staff writer Susan Gallier about its capabilities as his team was moving instruments into the new facility.
Kangbei Cai, Yuchen Song, Jingjing Li, Dezhong Wang, Junlian Yin, Wei Liu, Hua Li
Nuclear Technology | Volume 205 | Number 1 | January-February 2019 | Pages 94-103
Technical Paper | doi.org/10.1080/00295450.2018.1479575
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
The Venturi-type bubble generator proposed by Oak Ridge National Laboratory is used to produce micro-sized bubbles. In this paper, a numerical simulation is carried out to study the process of the bubble formation and detachment from a wall orifice of a Venturi-type bubble generator in a cross-flowing liquid. The Volume-of-Fluid (VOF) method is applied to track the two-phase interface and study the evolution of the bubble formation. The result of the computation provides a visual three-dimensional bubble and shows the process of bubble formation and detachment. Three stages are identified during bubble formation (the expansion stage, the rising stage, and the collapse stage). Because of the compressibility of the gas, a fluctuation of the pressure and the mass flow rate in the gas chamber is observed, which is considered a significant effect on the bubble formation and detachment. The mechanism of the bubble detachment is clarified with the help of the mass flow rate fluctuation. The equivalent diameter is compared with that predicted by a previous model. A Coupled Level Set Volume-of-Fluid (CLSVOF) simulation is compared with the VOF simulation; the three stages and the fluctuation are also observed in the CLSVOF simulation.
