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Division Spotlight
Thermal Hydraulics
The division provides a forum for focused technical dialogue on thermal hydraulic technology in the nuclear industry. Specifically, this will include heat transfer and fluid mechanics involved in the utilization of nuclear energy. It is intended to attract the highest quality of theoretical and experimental work to ANS, including research on basic phenomena and application to nuclear system design.
Meeting Spotlight
ANS Student Conference 2025
April 3–5, 2025
Albuquerque, NM|The University of New Mexico
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
Norway’s Halden reactor takes first step toward decommissioning
The government of Norway has granted the transfer of the Halden research reactor from the Institute for Energy Technology (IFE) to the state agency Norwegian Nuclear Decommissioning (NND). The 25-MWt Halden boiling water reactor operated from 1958 to 2018 and was used in the research of nuclear fuel, reactor internals, plant procedures and monitoring, and human factors.
Amy Hall, Daniel A. Gum, Richard Ferrieri, John Brockman, James E. Bevins
Nuclear Technology | Volume 206 | Number 7 | July 2020 | Pages 962-976
Technical Paper – Special section on the 2019 ANS Student Conference | doi.org/10.1080/00295450.2020.1740561
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
The General Electric (GE®) PETtrace 860 cyclotron at the Missouri University Research Reactor (MURR) facility is used extensively for medical and research radioisotope production. However, no model exists of its performance, and the proton beam’s energy and spatial distribution are unmeasured. Here, an MCNP6 model was developed to improve upon the performance of the cyclotron target systems that are routinely utilized for research and medical radioisotope production. Since the cyclotron beam energy and profile have a significant impact on the efficiency and character of radioisotope production, the MURR cyclotron proton beam energy was measured using high-purity copper stacked foil activation to be 14.6 ± 0.2 MeV, a significant reduction from the stated 16.4 MeV. Phosphor plate imaging was also used to radiographically image the distribution of radioisotope production within the copper foils and characterize the beam spatial and intensity profile. Total target activity was quantified by trapping the 11C on a solid adsorbent and measuring the amount in an ion chamber. Effective target densities were calculated for irradiations conducted with beam currents between 5 and 40 μA. The measured beam and target characteristics were used to develop an MCNP6 model of 11C production. Through use of the model, it was determined that the targets were, at most, 41% efficient as a thick target design resulting in up to 11.80-MeV average protons impinging on the target walls leading to potential contamination from hot ion recoils.