ANS is committed to advancing, fostering, and promoting the development and application of nuclear sciences and technologies to benefit society.
Explore the many uses for nuclear science and its impact on energy, the environment, healthcare, food, and more.
Division Spotlight
Decommissioning & Environmental Sciences
The mission of the Decommissioning and Environmental Sciences (DES) Division is to promote the development and use of those skills and technologies associated with the use of nuclear energy and the optimal management and stewardship of the environment, sustainable development, decommissioning, remediation, reutilization, and long-term surveillance and maintenance of nuclear-related installations, and sites. The target audience for this effort is the membership of the Division, the Society, and the public at large.
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.
Special Committee on Generic Standards for Disposal of High-Level Radioactive Waste
The Special Committee on Generic Standards for Disposal of High-Level Radioactive Waste was organized in 2019 under the direction of Dr. John Kessler with aims to update the current U.S. geologic repository standards that are codified in the Environmental Protection Agency regulation 40 CFR Part 191 and apply to all sites except Yucca Mountain in Nevada. The American Nuclear Society developed the draft report to help enable progress toward updating the national U.S. geologic repository standards for the permanent disposal of spent fuel from nuclear power plants. This draft report is Open for peer review and general review and comment by stakeholders.
Read the Report
The U.S. Nuclear R&D Imperative
A task force commissioned by the American Nuclear Society (ANS) issued an assessment of U.S. nuclear energy research and development funding needs for the 2020s. The study is a prospectus for appropriators as Congress and the Biden administration consider ways to support and expand America’s largest carbon-free energy technology, nuclear energy.
ANS Special Committee on Advanced Reactor Policy
The Special Committee on Advanced Reactor Policy (SCARP) was organized in 2018 by then ANS President John Kelly to survey existing advanced reactor-related legislation and policy proposals in order to develop integrated policy-related recommendations. In examining current federal policies in law, regulation, public pronouncement and practice, the Special Committee developed an eight-page report aimed at accelerating the deployment of advanced reactors in the U.S. and abroad that best represent the consensus position of the U.S. nuclear community.
Last modified August 10, 2023, 2:51pm CDT
