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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.
2024 International Congress on Advances in Nuclear Power Plants (ICAPP) SPeaker
Pr. Koroush Shirvan is a professor of nuclear science and engineering at Massachusetts Institute of Technology and the current Co-Director of Reactor Technology Course for Utility Executives by National Academy for Nuclear Training, Director of Accident Tolerant Fuel Integrated Research Project (IRP) and PI of MIT ARC-20 project as part of the Advanced Demonstration Reactor Program. His research focuses on innovations in reactor design and fuel engineering.
In 2021, Prof. Shirvan released the first open-source tool for cost estimation of existing and advanced nuclear architectures. The tool and its insights are currently utilized by policy makers and energy community worldwide. He is an active consultant to the nuclear industry on matters of digital engineering, cost, safety, use of AI/ML, and fuel technology.
Pr. Shirvan received his PhD from MIT in 2012. He has been the lead supervisor of over 50 graduate thesis and current is supervising 17 graduate students. His work on fuels has led into multiple awards including the Reactor Technology Award from American Nuclear Society in 2022.
Last modified February 8, 2024, 6:08am PST
