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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
TerraPower begins U.K. regulatory approval process
Seattle-based TerraPower signaled its interest this week in building its Natrium small modular reactor in the United Kingdom, the company announced.
TerraPower sent a letter to the U.K.’s Department for Energy Security and Net Zero, formally establishing its intention to enter the U.K. generic design assessment (GDA) process. This is TerraPower’s first step in deployment of its Natrium technology—a 345-MW sodium fast reactor coupled with a molten salt energy storage unit—on the international stage.
H. Guo, T. Kooyman, P. Sciora, L. Buiron
Nuclear Technology | Volume 205 | Number 11 | November 2019 | Pages 1447-1459
Technical Paper | doi.org/10.1080/00295450.2019.1611304
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
The reduction of the initial excess reactivity in fast reactor cores will enhance the inherent safety level of the cores as it does reduce the impact of control rod withdrawal (CRW) accidents. Compensation for burnup reactivity loss by means of burnable poison (BP) is considered as a possible solution to limit initial excess reactivity. Minor actinides (MAs) challenge long-term nuclear waste management, and they can be transmuted from absorber isotopes to fissile isotopes, which allows them to play the role of BPs.
Two loading modes of MAs as BPs are considered in this paper: The so-called homogeneous transmutation mode mixes MAs with the fuel, and the so-called hybrid transmutation mode packs MAs in independent pins in the fuel assemblies. The content of americium or neptunium in these two modes is considered with regard to current technological feasibility, including burnup, cladding stress, decay heat, and the neutron source of the assemblies considered here. Both of these modes are able to compensate for the reactivity loss of a 3600-MW(thermal) fast reactor and thus reduce excess reactivity at the beginning of cycle.
The impact of MA loading on the core characteristics, including power distribution, material balance, and feedback coefficient, is considered from the assembly level to the core level. The hybrid mode shows better management feasibility while the use of neptunium exhibits a lower impact on the current fuel recycling. Finally, the core behavior during a CRW transient is evaluated, which shows that the core loaded with BPs exhibits better safety performance in CRW transients due to their lower initial excess reactivity.