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Division Spotlight
Robotics & Remote Systems
The Mission of the Robotics and Remote Systems Division is to promote the development and application of immersive simulation, robotics, and remote systems for hazardous environments for the purpose of reducing hazardous exposure to individuals, reducing environmental hazards and reducing the cost of performing work.
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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Glass strategy: Hanford’s enhanced waste glass program
The mission of the Department of Energy’s Office of River Protection (ORP) is to complete the safe cleanup of waste resulting from decades of nuclear weapons development. One of the most technologically challenging responsibilities is the safe disposition of approximately 56 million gallons of radioactive waste historically stored in 177 tanks at the Hanford Site in Washington state.
ORP has a clear incentive to reduce the overall mission duration and cost. One pathway is to develop and deploy innovative technical solutions that can advance baseline flow sheets toward higher efficiency operations while reducing identified risks without compromising safety. Vitrification is the baseline process that will convert both high-level and low-level radioactive waste at Hanford into a stable glass waste form for long-term storage and disposal.
Although vitrification is a mature technology, there are key areas where technology can further reduce operational risks, advance baseline processes to maximize waste throughput, and provide the underpinning to enhance operational flexibility; all steps in reducing mission duration and cost.
Formed in 1957, the ANS Standards Committee has been active in the development of industry standards ever since. All ANS standards receive dual approval from the American National Standards Institute and are thus considered American National Standards. Industry standards are often started to establish safe practices. Once a standard is written and approved, it may influence regulatory guidance. Further, standards developed under voluntary consensus procedures, like those of ANS, often receive wide acceptance in their industry due to the broad representation of experts who worked to create the standard.
ANS standards, as well as the standards of many other organizations and industries, are documents that set forth requirements for the design, manufacture, or operation of a piece of equipment. They can also address computer firmware and software. A standard can address the necessary physical and functional features of equipment, its safe application, or some combination of these. These standards are applied on a voluntary basis. When a standard is adopted by a state or federal agency, then it becomes part of their mandatory code.
Since its start, ANS has written and approved nearly 150 different standards, and numerous versions of many of those. At present ANS has more than 80 standards that are current American National Standards and many others that are considered historical standards. These technical documents are written, reviewed, and approved by the army of talented volunteers that support our program. ANS has close to 1000 volunteers who provide their experience and expertise to the various levels of standards committees to see that these important documents are written for the industry's needs.
The various web pages for the standards program should answer your basic questions about this important activity of the American Nuclear Society. But, for any of your questions that remain unanswered, we encourage you to contact standards@ans.org.
Last modified April 8, 2020, 7:42am CDT