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Explore the many uses for nuclear science and its impact on energy, the environment, healthcare, food, and more.
Division Spotlight
Aerospace Nuclear Science & Technology
Organized to promote the advancement of knowledge in the use of nuclear science and technologies in the aerospace application. Specialized nuclear-based technologies and applications are needed to advance the state-of-the-art in aerospace design, engineering and operations to explore planetary bodies in our solar system and beyond, plus enhance the safety of air travel, especially high speed air travel. Areas of interest will include but are not limited to the creation of nuclear-based power and propulsion systems, multifunctional materials to protect humans and electronic components from atmospheric, space, and nuclear power system radiation, human factor strategies for the safety and reliable operation of nuclear power and propulsion plants by non-specialized personnel and more.
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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November 2024
Latest News
NRC okays construction permits for Hermes 2 test facility
The Nuclear Regulatory Commission announced yesterday that it has directed staff to issue construction permits to Kairos Power for the company's proposed Hermes 2 nonpower test reactor facility to be built at the Heritage Center Industrial Park in Oak Ridge, Tenn. The permits authorize Kairos to build a facility with two 35-MWt test reactors that would use molten salt to cool the reactor cores.
Jordan Crowell, Eleodor Nichita
Nuclear Technology | Volume 209 | Number 4 | April 2023 | Pages 504-514
Technical Paper | doi.org/10.1080/00295450.2022.2135334
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
Small Canadian arctic communities rely on diesel generators for their electricity needs. Providing such generators with fuel year round presents logistical challenges because of inclement weather and the long transportation distances involved. This work presents the conceptual design of a 10-MW(thermal) microreactor that can be used to provide 3.5 MW of electricity as well as district heating to arctic communities. The reactor has a lead-cooled and graphite-moderated core with 13 vertical fuel channels containing high-assay low-enriched uranium fuel enriched to 10%. The core is enclosed in a unpressurized reactor vessel and is passively cooled through natural convection. Stirling engines are used to drive the electrical generators. The hot cylinders of the Stirling engines are located in the unpressurized reactor vessel and are heated directly by the primary coolant. Preliminary neutronic and thermal-hydraulic analyses of the core indicate that the design is technically feasible and that the reactor can function for 2 years and 9 months without refueling.