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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
2024 ANS Winter Conference and Expo
November 17–21, 2024
Orlando, FL|Renaissance Orlando at SeaWorld
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 new build procurement considerations
It may seem counterintuitive, but the best time to enhance the ability to support operations and maintenance for a new plant is before construction starts. This is one of many lessons learned by the currently operating nuclear fleet. As construction and startup of many nuclear facilities was completed, it quickly became evident that the ability to efficiently support operations and maintenance was limited. Most of the information necessary to establish and manage procurement of spare and replacement items, maintenance, and configuration of the facilities was unavailable and had to be gathered on a case-by-case, “on-demand” basis. Absence of necessary information and the associated challenges resulted in the need for staff augmentation and multiyear-long projects to develop equipment bills of material and maintenance programs and to perform technical evaluations for the huge quantities of spare and replacement items being requested.
Yuan Gao, Huai-En Hsieh, Huifang Miao, Zhe Zhou, Zhibo Zhang
Nuclear Technology | Volume 208 | Number 2 | February 2022 | Pages 222-231
Technical Paper | doi.org/10.1080/00295450.2021.1899552
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
Critical heat flux (CHF) is an important heat transfer deterioration phenomenon during boiling heat transfer. It has been extensively studied, especially in the field of nuclear energy. Previous research has found that downward-facing heat transfer is worse than upward-facing and should be paid more attention. In this paper, the boiling heat transfer process under different flow rates and inlet distances is investigated. Seven experimental cases were made including a pool boiling case. The experiment studied the effect of inlet distances under small flow rates, which is not covered by previous research. Analysis of the CHF mechanism included surface temperature curves, boiling curves, bubble behaviors, and heat transfer coefficient. The fluctuation of the surface temperature of forced convention cases was observed due to the bubbles sliding along the heating surface. The phenomenon of vapor film fragmentation could also be found. The results show that even at small flow rates, CHF occurring time is postponed and the CHF value increases. Reducing inlet distance or increasing flow rate can both promote boiling heat transfer, thereby enhancing CHF.