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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.
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ANS Student Conference 2025
April 3–5, 2025
Albuquerque, NM|The University of New Mexico
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El Salvador: Looking to nuclear
In 2022, El Salvador’s leadership decided to expand its modest, mostly hydro- and geothermal-based electricity system, which is supported by expensive imported natural gas and diesel generation. They chose to use advanced nuclear reactors, preferably fueled by thorium-based fuels, to power their civilian efforts. The choice of thorium was made to inform the world that the reactor program was for civilian purposes only, and so they chose a fuel that was plentiful, easy to source and work with, and not a proliferation risk.
Xianping Zhong, Jiyang Yu, Xiaolong Zhang, Muhammad Saeed, Yi Li, Zhihui Chen, Bin Tang, Yan Sun, Tao Huang
Nuclear Technology | Volume 207 | Number 2 | February 2021 | Pages 228-246
Technical Paper | doi.org/10.1080/00295450.2020.1763097
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
The pressurizer of a pressurized water reactor (PWR), as a spray-heating degasser, has been widely used to remove dissolved gas in the primary coolant of PWRs. In the real degassing process, the boundary conditions of the pressurizer may change, causing fluctuations in the degassing state and affecting the efficiency of degassing. However, open-published studies have focused mainly on the steady-state degassing characteristics of the pressurizer. This paper studies the dynamic characteristics of a spray-heating degasser as applied to the pressurizer of a PWR. First, a lumped parameter dynamic degassing model for the spray-heating degasser is proposed based on basic gas dissolution and transport theory. Second, this model is extended, and a dynamic degassing model for the pressurizer is obtained. Third, two sets of numerical hydrogen degassing tests are carried out using the pressurizer dynamic degassing model. These two sets of numerical tests take the Shippingport pressurizer as the research object and integrate the structure and operating parameters of the Shippingport pressurizer with the system parameters of a Bettis Atomic Power Laboratory hydrogen degassing test as the numerical test condition.
The spray-heating degasser degassing model is universal and applicable to this pressurizer as well as other devices with similar structures. The first set of numerical tests carried out reveals the physical mechanism of degassing with the spray-heating degasser. The pressurizer degassing model can be used for transient degassing analysis, and it also provides a basis for the subsequent design of the control system of pressurizer degassing.