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Division Spotlight
Mathematics & Computation
Division members promote the advancement of mathematical and computational methods for solving problems arising in all disciplines encompassed by the Society. They place particular emphasis on numerical techniques for efficient computer applications to aid in the dissemination, integration, and proper use of computer codes, including preparation of computational benchmark and development of standards for computing practices, and to encourage the development on new computer codes and broaden their use.
Meeting Spotlight
International Conference on Mathematics and Computational Methods Applied to Nuclear Science and Engineering (M&C 2025)
April 27–30, 2025
Denver, CO|The Westin Denver Downtown
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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Latest News
Argonne’s METL gears up to test more sodium fast reactor components
Argonne National Laboratory has successfully swapped out an aging cold trap in the sodium test loop called METL (Mechanisms Engineering Test Loop), the Department of Energy announced April 23. The upgrade is the first of its kind in the United States in more than 30 years, according to the DOE, and will help test components and operations for the sodium-cooled fast reactors being developed now.
M. Bradbury, R. Ratnayake (NuScale Power)
Proceedings | 2018 International Congress on Advances in Nuclear Power Plants (ICAPP 2018) | Charlotte, NC, April 8-11, 2018 | Pages 165-171
Data from Critical Heat Flux (CHF) and Critical Power (CP) tests are used for developing CHF and CP (or dryout) correlations to predict the maximum allowable heat flux at points of operational interest. CHF and CP tests are conducted using heater rod arrays representing fuel rods in a partial fuel bundle. Heat is directly generated in these heater rods depicting the axial power distributions of interest. The test rod array is housed in a slender vertical channel of metallic walls that are generally unheated. During testing, part of the heat generated in the heater rods is lost to the environment through the channel walls. Heat loss through the channel wall has the potential to favor channel thermal-hydraulic (T-H) conditions, and thereby make power measurements non-conservative. Typically, a single conservative estimate of the heat loss obtained from a separate isothermal test of the same test configuration is used regardless of the reactor conditions tested during a test campaign. This paper investigates the basis for the use of a single value for channel heat loss under varying reactor conditions. Results indicate that this practice has sound bases when applied with appropriate conservatisms.