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
Isotopes & Radiation
Members are devoted to applying nuclear science and engineering technologies involving isotopes, radiation applications, and associated equipment in scientific research, development, and industrial processes. Their interests lie primarily in education, industrial uses, biology, medicine, and health physics. Division committees include Analytical Applications of Isotopes and Radiation, Biology and Medicine, Radiation Applications, Radiation Sources and Detection, and Thermal Power Sources.
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.
J. Sanz, R. Juárez, F. Ognissanto, J. M. Perlado
Fusion Science and Technology | Volume 60 | Number 2 | August 2011 | Pages 579-584
IFE Design & Technology | Proceedings of the Nineteenth Topical Meeting on the Technology of Fusion Energy (TOFE) (Part 2) | doi.org/10.13182/FST11-A12445
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
One of the critical decisions in the HiPER project is to select the most appropriate material for the reaction chamber. Within this framework, we investigate the performance of different steel alloys with respect to waste management. The capabilities of commercial steels, both austenitic and ferritic/martensitic, compared to reduced-activation ferritic/martensitic steels are evaluated as for different waste management strategies (near surface burial, clearance, hands-on and remote recycling). The examined materials are: SS304, SS316, mod.9Cr-1Mo and HT9 and EUROFER. Real impurities concentrations are taken into account, and their impact is analyzed. In the study, we have assumed the most exigent HiPER 4a irradiation scenario. Commercial steels revealed to be a suitable choice for the HiPER reaction chamber, as far as their waste management options do not differ significantly from those of the reduced activation ferritic steel case. We found that for mod.9Cr-1Mo and EUROFER hands-on recycling is already possible after a cooling time shorter than 50 years and that shallow-land burial is practicable for all the steel alloys studied. The impurities present in the real heats affects the cooling time for manual recycling but not significantly. Shallow-land burial feasibility is not perturbed by the presence of impurities in the real commercial heats. Moreover, the impact of activation cross section uncertainties on the waste management assessment of the irradiated steels has been analyzed, and it is found to be of no practical significance to determine eligibility of the considered steels for the HIPER 4a reaction chamber.
