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Division Spotlight
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.
Meeting Spotlight
Conference on Nuclear Training and Education: A Biennial International Forum (CONTE 2025)
February 3–6, 2025
Amelia Island, FL|Omni Amelia Island Resort
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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Christmas Night
Twas the night before Christmas when all through the houseNo electrons were flowing through even my mouse.
All devices were plugged in by the chimney with careWith the hope that St. Nikola Tesla would share.
Marc A. Gibson, David I. Poston, Patrick R. McClure, James L. Sanzi, Thomas J. Godfroy, Maxwell H. Briggs, Scott D. Wilson, Nicholas A. Schifer, Max F. Chaiken, Nissim Lugasy
Nuclear Technology | Volume 206 | Number 1 | June 2020 | Pages 31-42
Technical Paper – Kilopower/KRUSTY special issue | doi.org/10.1080/00295450.2019.1709364
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
The Kilopower reactors have been designed to provide a steady-state thermal power range between 4 and 40 kW and to convert the heat generated to an electrical output of 1 to 10 kW(electric), providing an overall system efficiency of 25%. This range of thermal and electrical power has been derived from two basic designs: the small 1-kW(electric) design and the larger 10- kW(electric) electric design intended to support science and human exploration missions for surface and in-space power. The Kilowatt Reactor Using Stirling TechnologY (KRUSTY) experiment was built using the 1-kW(electric) Kilopower design to make the test affordable by using existing infrastructure and to complete it in a 3-year timeframe. The data from the smaller, lower-mass system could be extended to the larger 10-kW(electric) system, knowing that the materials and neutronic design are similar. Each of these designs use the same fuel, heat transport systems, and power conversion systems at the appropriate scale to produce the desired electrical output power for mission use. The heat transport system uses multiple heat pipes that operate passively and do not require any electrical pumps or other parasitic loads to cool the reactor core. This type of reactor cooling provides several layers of redundancy and makes it ideal for coupling a self-regulating reactor to a variable-output power conversion system. The power converters accept the reactor heat that has been delivered by the heat pipes and create the needed electrical power through their thermodynamic Stirling cycle and linear alternator. This paper provides details about the sodium heat pipes used in the experiment, the Stirling power converters that create the electricity, and the overall power system that make up the 1-kW(electric) Kilopower reactor.