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Division Spotlight
Thermal Hydraulics
The division provides a forum for focused technical dialogue on thermal hydraulic technology in the nuclear industry. Specifically, this will include heat transfer and fluid mechanics involved in the utilization of nuclear energy. It is intended to attract the highest quality of theoretical and experimental work to ANS, including research on basic phenomena and application to nuclear system design.
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!
Latest Magazine Issues
Feb 2025
Jul 2024
Latest Journal Issues
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.
Keynotes Session
Tuesday, August 22, 2023|8:00–8:50AM EDT|Columbia 11/12
Session Chair:
Stephen Bajorek (USNRC)
Yasir Arafat is an accomplished nuclear engineer and a pioneer in microreactor technology who has made significant contributions to the development of advanced reactors. Mr. Arafat has 13 years of experience leading and executing nuclear research and development, primarily in advanced reactors, including designing and developing the Westinghouse AP1000®, Westinghouse SMR, fusion power plant, creating and leading eVinci & DeVinci microreactors at Westinghouse and DOE's MARVEL test microreactor at INL. As the Chief Designer and Project Lead of the MARVEL project, he has played a key role in the creation of the first advanced reactor to be built in the United States in 50 years.
Under his leadership, the MARVEL test microreactor became the first reactor to achieve NEPA compliance through an Environmental Assessment and successfully undergo procurement and construction phases. Yasir is also one of the national Technical Area Leads for the Department of Energy Microreactor Program and serves as the subject matter expert for microreactors at the Nuclear Science and Technology Directorate at Idaho National Laboratory. He is a technical advisor to the Fission Battery Initiative.
Yasir specializes in leading complex engineering projects, reactor design & licensing, model-based systems engineering, advanced manufacturing, thermodynamic process modeling/simulation, agile product development, and innovation strategy. He has developed a novel Agile hardware development process that enabled the rapid development of nuclear reactor systems. He is also skilled in the techno-economic evaluation and led a pioneering effort in collaboration with the automotive industry to generate a microreactor factory manufacturing cost curve based on manufacturing MARVEL's 3800+ parts.
He has been granted 11 patents and three provisional patents in reactor technology, with an additional four patent applications currently under review. Mr. Arafat's contributions to the field of nuclear energy have been critical to the development of advanced reactors and have cemented his reputation as a leading microreactor expert in the industry.
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