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Division Spotlight
Decommissioning & Environmental Sciences
The mission of the Decommissioning and Environmental Sciences (DES) Division is to promote the development and use of those skills and technologies associated with the use of nuclear energy and the optimal management and stewardship of the environment, sustainable development, decommissioning, remediation, reutilization, and long-term surveillance and maintenance of nuclear-related installations, and sites. The target audience for this effort is the membership of the Division, the Society, and the public at large.
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
Nuclear Technology
Fusion Science and Technology
Latest News
ARPA-E announces $40 million to develop transmutation technologies for UNF
The Department of Energy’s Advanced Research Projects Agency–Energy (ARPA-E) announced $40 million in funding to develop cutting-edge technologies to enable the transmutation of used nuclear fuel into less-radioactive substances. According to ARPA-E, the new initiative addresses one of the agency’s core goals as outlined by Congress: to provide transformative solutions to improve the management, cleanup, and disposal of radioactive waste and spent nuclear fuel.
John Pevey, Ondřej Chvála, Sarah Davis, Vladimir Sobes, J. Wes Hines
Nuclear Technology | Volume 206 | Number 4 | April 2020 | Pages 609-619
Technical Paper | doi.org/10.1080/00295450.2019.1664198
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
This paper discusses the design of a fast spectrum subcritical assembly utilizing a genetic algorithm. The facility proposed in this paper would be a flexible platform for expanding the knowledge of fast spectrum neutron cross sections needed for next-generation fast reactor designs. The Fast Neutron Source (FNS) would be composed of both a fast and a thermal region to minimize the amount of uranium fuel and reduce overall material costs while maintaining flexibility for many potential fast neutron cross-section experiments. The FNS would be customizable and interchangeable down to 1 × 1 × 10-in.-volume sections. An optimal core design requires the adjustment of many factors to both reduce the cost and accurately reproduce the spectra of interest during an experiment. A genetic algorithm was developed to optimize this complex design problem while reducing design time and expert judgment. The genetic algorithm was able to vary multiple design factors in an unattended fashion from a random initial population of designs and arrived at a design comparable to an expertly designed assembly.