ANS is committed to advancing, fostering, and promoting the development and application of nuclear sciences and technologies to benefit society.
Explore the many uses for nuclear science and its impact on energy, the environment, healthcare, food, and more.
Explore membership for yourself or for your organization.
Conference Spotlight
2026 ANS Annual Conference
May 31–June 3, 2026
Denver, CO|Sheraton Denver
Latest Magazine Issues
Apr 2026
Jan 2026
Latest Journal Issues
Nuclear Science and Engineering
May 2026
Nuclear Technology
February 2026
Fusion Science and Technology
Latest News
UIUC submits MMR construction permit application
The University of Illinois–Urbana-Champaign, in partnership with Nano Nuclear Energy, has submitted a construction permit application to the Nuclear Regulatory Commission for construction of a Kronos micro modular reactor (MMR). This is the first major step in the two-part 10 CFR Part 50 licensing process for the research and test reactor and is the culmination of years of technical refinement and regulatory alignment.
The team chose to engage with the NRC in a preapplication readiness assessment, providing the agency with draft versions of the majority of the CPA’s technical content for feedback, which is expected to ensure a high-quality application.
Brian Mays, Lewis Lommers, Stacy Yoder, Farshid Shahrokhi
Nuclear Technology | Volume 208 | Number 8 | August 2022 | Pages 1311-1323
Technical Paper | doi.org/10.1080/00295450.2021.1947664
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
The inherent passive heat removal characteristics of modular High Temperature Gas-Cooled Reactors (HTGRs) are well known. Modular HTGRs use a combination of coated-particle fuel, ceramic core materials, core geometry, and power level to maintain acceptable fuel temperatures for all credible operating and accident conditions. Heat from the reactor vessel is radiated to a passive reactor cavity cooling system (RCCS), which removes excess heat from the reactor cavity. The RCCS for Framatome’s Steam Cycle–High Temperature Gas-Cooled Reactor (SC-HTGR) is a highly reliable, redundant system. Similar to most other modular HTGR concepts, RCCS failure is not considered credible for any accident scenario. Nonetheless, reactor module performance with a compromised RCCS is still of interest. Evaluation of such beyond-design-basis scenarios supports safety assessment of extremely low probability beyond-design-basis events (BDBEs) as well as the development of RCCS design requirements and plant emergency procedures. This study evaluates the performance of the SC-HTGR during a long-term depressurized loss of forced circulation event without RCCS operation. Boundary conditions are varied to determine their effect on reactor temperatures. Safety and investment risk considerations are addressed. The results of this study indicate that the safety impact is modest since fuel temperatures remain within their limits. However, the investment risk is more significant since vessel temperatures could significantly exceed design limits for these hypothetical BDBEs.