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Division Spotlight
Radiation Protection & Shielding
The Radiation Protection and Shielding Division is developing and promoting radiation protection and shielding aspects of nuclear science and technology — including interaction of nuclear radiation with materials and biological systems, instruments and techniques for the measurement of nuclear radiation fields, and radiation shield design and evaluation.
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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Fusion Science and Technology
Latest News
El Salvador: Looking to nuclear
In 2022, El Salvador’s leadership decided to expand its modest, mostly hydro- and geothermal-based electricity system, which is supported by expensive imported natural gas and diesel generation. They chose to use advanced nuclear reactors, preferably fueled by thorium-based fuels, to power their civilian efforts. The choice of thorium was made to inform the world that the reactor program was for civilian purposes only, and so they chose a fuel that was plentiful, easy to source and work with, and not a proliferation risk.
Peter H. Titus, Michael Kalish, Christopher M. Hause, Philip Heitzenroeder, Jushin Hsiao, Robert Pillsbury, Edward Daly
Fusion Science and Technology | Volume 64 | Number 2 | August 2013 | Pages 136-145
ITER | Proceedings of the Twentieth Topical Meeting on the Technology of Fusion Energy (TOFE-2012) (Part 1), Nashville, Tennessee, August 27-31, 2012 | doi.org/10.13182/FST13-A18068
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
The ITER vertical stability (VS) coils have been developed through the preliminary design phase by Princeton Plasma Physics Laboratory (PPPL). Final design, prototyping and construction will be carried out by the Chinese Participant Team contributing lab, Institute of Plasma Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences (ASIPP). The VS coils are a part of the in-vessel coil systems which include edge localized mode (ELM) coils as well as the VS coils.The VS design employs four turns of stainless steel jacketed mineral insulated copper (SSMIC) conductors The mineral insulation is Magnesium Oxide (MgO). Joule and nuclear heat are removed by water flowing through the hollow copper conductor. The slightly elevated temperatures in the conductor and its support spine during operation impose compressive stresses that mitigate fatigue damage. Away from joints, and breakouts, conductor thermal stresses are low because of the axisymmetry of the winding (there are no corner bends as in the ELM coils).The joints, and break-out or terminal regions are designed with similar but imperfect constraint compared with the ring coil portion of the VS. The support for the break-out region is made from a high strength copper alloy, CuCrZr. This is needed to conduct nuclear heat to the actively cooled conductor and to the vessel wall. The support "spine" for the ring coil portion of the VS is 316 stainless steel, held to the vessel with preloaded Inconel 718 bolts. Lorentz loads resulting from normal operating loads, disruption loads and loads from disruption currents in the support spine shared with vessel, are applied to the VS coil. Stresses in the coil, joints, and break-outs are presented. These are compared with static and fatigue allowables. Design for fatigue is much less demanding than for the ELM coils. A total of 30,000 cycles is required for VS design.