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Division Spotlight
Accelerator Applications
The division was organized to promote the advancement of knowledge of the use of particle accelerator technologies for nuclear and other applications. It focuses on production of neutrons and other particles, utilization of these particles for scientific or industrial purposes, such as the production or destruction of radionuclides significant to energy, medicine, defense or other endeavors, as well as imaging and diagnostics.
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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February 2025
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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.
13th Nuclear Plant Instrumentation, Control & Human-Machine Interface Technologies (NPIC&HMIT 2023)
Technical Session|Panel
Thursday, July 20, 2023|8:00–9:30AM EDT|301B
Session Chairs:
Ted Quinn (Paragon Energy Solutions)
Ian Jung (NRC)
Session Organizers:
The nuclear industry is pursuing the development and licensing of a number of advanced reactor designs of various types and sizes. Instrumentation and control for these designs can play a key role in the operation and safety of the facilities. Multiple designers are in various pre- or post-application licensing review stages working with the United States Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC). The NRC has also been preparing for the review of the licensing applications. One major area is to enhance the NRC’s regulatory infrastructure that includes the development of the rules and regulatory guidance better suited for the designs. The application of the risk-informed and performance-based (RIPB) approach is one of the most significant areas for the review of the designs. Some of the key examples are the ongoing 10 CFR Part 53 rulemaking effort, the issuance of Regulatory Guide (RG) 1.233, which endorses NEI 18-04, and Trial RG 1.247, which endorses the ASME/ANS non-LWR probabilistic risk assessment (PRA) standard, and the NRC’s ongoing advanced reactor content of application project (ARCAP) along with the industry’s technology-inclusive content of application project (TICAP) in NEI 21-07. The enhanced regulatory infrastructure affects, and can provide opportunities for, the instrumentation and control (I&C) design and licensing. Specific to I&C, the NRC staff has also issued Design Review Guide (DRG) for I&C to be ready for the advanced reactors, and several designers are using this guidance. This panel will discuss the NRC and industry perspectives on the development and licensing of advanced reactor I&C. The emphasis is placed on the I&C-related regulatory infrastructure, the I&C approaches of some of the designers, the industry implementation of such regulatory infrastructure, including the RIPB approach in RG 1.233 and DRG for I&C, and the potential or unique challenges in the I&C licensing.
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