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Division Spotlight
Materials Science & Technology
The objectives of MSTD are: promote the advancement of materials science in Nuclear Science Technology; support the multidisciplines which constitute it; encourage research by providing a forum for the presentation, exchange, and documentation of relevant information; promote the interaction and communication among its members; and recognize and reward its members for significant contributions to the field of materials science in nuclear technology.
Meeting Spotlight
ANS Student Conference 2025
April 3–5, 2025
Albuquerque, NM|The University of New Mexico
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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Nuclear Science and Engineering
March 2025
Nuclear Technology
Fusion Science and Technology
February 2025
Latest News
Colin Judge: Testing structural materials in Idaho’s newest hot cell facility
Idaho National Laboratory’s newest facility—the Sample Preparation Laboratory (SPL)—sits across the road from the Hot Fuel Examination Facility (HFEF), which started operating in 1975. SPL will host the first new hot cells at INL’s Materials and Fuels Complex (MFC) in 50 years, giving INL researchers and partners new flexibility to test the structural properties of irradiated materials fresh from the Advanced Test Reactor (ATR) or from a partner’s facility.
Materials meant to withstand extreme conditions in fission or fusion power plants must be tested under similar conditions and pushed past their breaking points so performance and limitations can be understood and improved. Once irradiated, materials samples can be cut down to size in SPL and packaged for testing in other facilities at INL or other national laboratories, commercial labs, or universities. But they can also be subjected to extreme thermal or corrosive conditions and mechanical testing right in SPL, explains Colin Judge, who, as INL’s division director for nuclear materials performance, oversees SPL and other facilities at the MFC.
SPL won’t go “hot” until January 2026, but Judge spoke with NN staff writer Susan Gallier about its capabilities as his team was moving instruments into the new facility.
Technical Session|Panel|Sponsored by OPD
Wednesday, June 19, 2024|10:00–11:45AM PDT|Jasmine C
Session Chair:
Andrew Whittaker (SUNY Distinguished Professor, University at Buffalo)
Alternate Chair:
Chandrakanth Bolisetti (Senior Scientist, Idaho National Laboratory)
Session Organizer:
For the United States to reach net-zero emissions by 2050, we will need to deploy nuclear power plants at an unprecedented speed and scale. Construction of nuclear power plants has been challenging in the recent decades - schedule delays, cost overruns, among other factors, impeded the widely-anticipated "nuclear renaissance" and damaged industry confidence. Civil works amount to almost half the capital costs of nuclear power plant built in the past and are a major contributor to overruns. Without advances and civil engineering and construction methods of nuclear power plants, advanced nuclear construction will face the same barriers and urgent, large-scale deployment will be almost impossible. The goal of this panel session is to bring attention to the importance of civil engineering of nuclear plants and shed some light on ongoing development and much needed technological advances in this topic.
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