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Division Spotlight
Reactor Physics
The division's objectives are to promote the advancement of knowledge and understanding of the fundamental physical phenomena characterizing nuclear reactors and other nuclear systems. The division encourages research and disseminates information through meetings and publications. Areas of technical interest include nuclear data, particle interactions and transport, reactor and nuclear systems analysis, methods, design, validation and operating experience and standards. The Wigner Award heads the awards program.
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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March 2025
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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.
18th International Probabilistic Safety Assessment and Analysis (PSA 2023)
Katrina M. Groth is an Associate Professor of Mechanical Engineering and the associate director for research for the Center for Risk and Reliability at the University of Maryland. Groth’s research and educational activities focus on engineering safer systems through risk assessment and reliability engineering, with a particular focus on complex engineering systems. Groth’s research has enhanced system safety for applications including hydrogen fueling stations, hydrogen storage, gas pipelines, and nuclear power plants.
Groth has published over 75 peer-reviewed journal and conference papers, 30 technical reports, 2 patents, and multiple software packages. Her work has been cited over 3,000 times. She led the development of the HyRAM toolkit for hydrogen risk assessment, and led teams conducting analyses implemented in the U.S. and international hydrogen standards, NFPA 2 and ISO 19880-1. Her Human Reliability Analysis research has filled a critical gap in risk-informed decision making for nuclear regulators. Groth’s work has been funded by the National Science Foundation, the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, PHMSA, and the U.S. Department of Energy, Sandia National Laboratories and the National Renewable Energy Laboratory in projects totaling over $14M. She is the recipient of a 2021 NSF CAREER award, the 2021 David Okrent Award for Nuclear Safety, the 2022 Landis Young Member Engineering Achievement Award from the American Nuclear Society, and a technical leadership award from the U.S. Department of Energy’s Hydrogen and Fuel Cell Technology Office. In 2021 she was an invited participant of the U.S. Frontiers of Engineering Symposium.
Prior to joining UMD, Groth was a Principal R&D Engineer at Sandia National Laboratories. She has a B.S in Nuclear Engineering, and an M.S. and PhD. in Reliability Engineering from the University of Maryland. Groth believes that risk assessment should be in every engineer’s toolbox. Throughout her career, Groth has been a dedicated mentor focused on increasing recruitment and retention of women and minorities in engineering. She is a trustee at the National Museum of Nuclear Science & History, where she is developing an exhibit on risk assessment.
Last modified June 6, 2023, 2:49pm EDT
