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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.
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2024 ANS Annual Conference
June 16–19, 2024
Las Vegas, NV|Mandalay Bay Resort and Casino
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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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Latest News
Proving DRACO will deliver
The United States is now closer than it has been in over five decades to launching the first nuclear thermal rocket into space, thanks to DRACO—the Demonstration Rocket for Agile Cislunar Orbit.
Swaminathan Vaidyanathan
Nuclear Technology | Volume 206 | Number 10 | October 2020 | Pages 1538-1552
Technical Paper | doi.org/10.1080/00295450.2019.1706377
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
A fuel rod design consisting of a bimetallic cladding tube of thorium metal bonded to a zirconium alloy and containing seed fuel in the interior space is proposed for thorium utilization in pressurized water reactors. The design mitigates the severe thermal penalty that arises in radial microheterogeneous designs when thorium is present as an oxide. The level of thorium loading has an important effect on the achievable discharge exposure as too high a loading results in a large reactivity penalty that is not compensated by rapid enough 233U breeding. In the bimetallic cladding design, the level of thorium loading could be adjusted by varying the thorium metal thickness, and analyses are presented to evaluate optimal levels of thorium loading. Results of cases for higher levels of initial seed loading are presented with a view to extending exposure and reducing the number of discharged assemblies. Liquid metal bonding the seed fuel–cladding gap is preferable as it reduces the seed fuel temperature and at the same time provides more room for fuel swelling. Helium bonding the gap is also possible with a seed fuel modified by an inert matrix. Both approaches need data for fuel thermal modeling, swelling, and fission gas release at high burnup not currently available.