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Division Spotlight
Fusion Energy
This division promotes the development and timely introduction of fusion energy as a sustainable energy source with favorable economic, environmental, and safety attributes. The division cooperates with other organizations on common issues of multidisciplinary fusion science and technology, conducts professional meetings, and disseminates technical information in support of these goals. Members focus on the assessment and resolution of critical developmental issues for practical fusion energy applications.
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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Nuclear Science and Engineering
August 2024
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July 2024
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Latest News
NRC engineers share their expertise at the University of Puerto Rico
Robert Roche-Rivera and Marcos Rolón-Acevedo are licensed professional engineers who work at the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission. They are also alumni of the University of Puerto Rico–Mayagüez (UPRM) and have been sharing their knowledge and experience with students at their alma mater since last year, serving as adjunct professors in the university’s Department of Mechanical Engineering. During the 2023–2024 school year, they each taught two courses: Fundamentals of Nuclear Science and Engineering, and Nuclear Power Plant Engineering.
Graham Kennedy, Katrien Van Tichelen, Julio Pacio, Ivan Di Piazza, Heleen Uitslag-Doolaard
Nuclear Technology | Volume 206 | Number 2 | February 2020 | Pages 179-190
Technical Paper | doi.org/10.1080/00295450.2019.1620539
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
In recent years, extensive thermal-hydraulic experimental tests have been performed on the lead-bismuth eutectic (LBE)–cooled, wire-wrapped fuel assembly (FA) of MYRRHA. These thermal-hydraulic tests were performed using FA mock-ups in large-scale LBE experimental test facilities at SCK•CEN (Belgium), ENEA (Italy), and Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (Germany). The FA pressure drop characteristics and flow-induced vibration (FIV) characteristics were tested with a full-scale 127-pin mock-up test section. The existing pressure drop correlations of Rehme and of Cheng and Todreas (simplified model) predict the experimental pressure drop data very well and are considered suitable for use in the design and safety analysis of the MYRRHA system. FIVs are very limited in the wire-wrapped bundle, and fuel pin fatigue damage from vibration during operation is not expected. Further analysis and testing are required to determine if damage from fretting corrosion could be expected.
Heat transfer characteristics of the FA were investigated experimentally in two separate 19-pin heated rod test sections cooled by LBE. The existing Kazimi-Carelli correlation predicts the global average Nusselt numbers very well, but the correlation is not developed to capture local hot spots. For the FA safety analysis, to further determine operational safety margins, a hot-spot factor is defined and analyzed to determine the hot-spot temperature penalty.