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Young Members Group
The Young Members Group works to encourage and enable all young professional members to be actively involved in the efforts and endeavors of the Society at all levels (Professional Divisions, ANS Governance, Local Sections, etc.) as they transition from the role of a student to the role of a professional. It sponsors non-technical workshops and meetings that provide professional development and networking opportunities for young professionals, collaborates with other Divisions and Groups in developing technical and non-technical content for topical and national meetings, encourages its members to participate in the activities of the Groups and Divisions that are closely related to their professional interests as well as in their local sections, introduces young members to the rules and governance structure of the Society, and nominates young professionals for awards and leadership opportunities available to members.
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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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.
B. H. Mills, J. D. Rader, D. L. Sadowski, S. I. Abdel-Khalik, M. Yoda
Fusion Science and Technology | Volume 60 | Number 1 | July 2011 | Pages 190-196
Divertor & High Heat Flux Components | Proceedings of the Nineteenth Topical Meeting on the Technology of Fusion Energy (TOFE) (Part 1) | doi.org/10.13182/FST11-A12350
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
The addition of fins to the cooled surface of gas-cooled divertor modules has been proposed as a means to enhance their thermal performance, in the HEMP concept, for example. Such fins enhance heat transfer by significantly increasing the surface area over which convection occurs. However, adding fins also increases pressure losses and manufacturing costs and can adversely affect coolant flow over the cooled surface. More importantly, the high heat transfer coefficients expected with helium (He) cooling may significantly lower the fin efficiency, thereby limiting the extent of heat transfer enhancement to values well below the increase in the area ratio. An experimental investigation was undertaken to quantify the extent of heat transfer enhancement and corresponding pressure loss increase associated with the addition of pin fins to the cooled surface of a modular, helium-cooled, finger-type divertor. Four test cases, including configurations similar to the HEMP and HEMJ concepts, were studied. The results show that the addition of fins to helium jet-cooled finger divertors may not provide enough heat transfer enhancement to justify the associated increases in design complexity and pressure loss. Generalized charts for the thermal performance of helium-cooled divertors have been developed; these allow the designers to estimate the maximum allowable heat flux and corresponding pressure drop for a specified set of operating conditions and maximum operating temperature.