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Division Spotlight
Young Members Group
The Young Members Group works to encourage and enable all young professional members to be actively involved in the efforts and endeavors of the Society at all levels (Professional Divisions, ANS Governance, Local Sections, etc.) as they transition from the role of a student to the role of a professional. It sponsors non-technical workshops and meetings that provide professional development and networking opportunities for young professionals, collaborates with other Divisions and Groups in developing technical and non-technical content for topical and national meetings, encourages its members to participate in the activities of the Groups and Divisions that are closely related to their professional interests as well as in their local sections, introduces young members to the rules and governance structure of the Society, and nominates young professionals for awards and leadership opportunities available to members.
Meeting Spotlight
2024 ANS Annual Conference
June 16–19, 2024
Las Vegas, NV|Mandalay Bay Resort and Casino
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
Oklo to collaborate with Atomic Alchemy on isotope production
Fast reactor developer Oklo, which recently went public on the New York Stock Exchange, announced on May 13 that it has signed a memorandum of understanding with Atomic Alchemy to cooperate on the production of radioisotopes for medical, energy, industry, and science applications.
D. Petti, R. Hill, J. Gehin, H. Gougar, G. Strydom, T. O’Connor, F. Heidet, J. Kinsey, C. Grandy, A. Qualls, N. Brown, J. Powers, E. Hoffman, D. Croson
Nuclear Technology | Volume 199 | Number 2 | August 2017 | Pages 111-128
Technical Paper | doi.org/10.1080/00295450.2017.1336029
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
An assessment of advanced reactor technology options was conducted to provide a sound comparative technical context for future decisions by the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) concerning these technologies. Strategic objectives were established that span a wide variety of important missions, and advanced reactor technology needs were identified based on recent DOE and international studies. A broad team of stakeholders from industry, academia, and government was assembled to develop a comprehensive set of goals, criteria, and metrics to evaluate advanced irradiation test and demonstration reactor concepts. Point designs of a select number of concepts were commissioned to provide a deeper technical basis for evaluation. The technology options were compared on the bases of technical readiness and the ability to meet the different strategic objectives. Using the study’s evaluation criteria and metrics, an independent group of experts from industry, universities, and national laboratories scored each of the point designs. Pathways to deployment for concepts of varying technical maturities were estimated for the different demonstration systems with regard to cost, schedule, and possible licensing approaches. This study also presents the trade-offs that exist among the different irradiation test reactor options in terms of the ability to conduct irradiations in support of advanced reactor research and development and to serve potential secondary missions.
The main findings of the study indicate the following: (1) for industrial process heat supply, a high-temperature gas-cooled reactor is the best choice because of the high outlet temperature of the reactor and its strong passive and inherent safety characteristics; (2) for resource utilization and waste management, a sodium-cooled fast reactor (SFR) is best because of the use of a fast flux to destroy actinides; (3) to realize the advantages of a promising but less-mature technology, a fluoride salt-cooled high-temperature reactor and a lead-cooled fast reactor fare about the same; (4) for fulfilling the needs of a materials test reactor, a SFR is considered best because of its ability to produce high fast flux, incorporate test loops, and provide additional large volumes for testing.