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Division Spotlight
Fusion Energy
This division promotes the development and timely introduction of fusion energy as a sustainable energy source with favorable economic, environmental, and safety attributes. The division cooperates with other organizations on common issues of multidisciplinary fusion science and technology, conducts professional meetings, and disseminates technical information in support of these goals. Members focus on the assessment and resolution of critical developmental issues for practical fusion energy applications.
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ANS Student Conference 2025
April 3–5, 2025
Albuquerque, NM|The University of New Mexico
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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
Discovering, Making, and Testing New Materials: SRNL’s Center For Hierarchical Waste Form Materials
Savannah River National Laboratory researchers are building on the laboratory’s legacy of using cutting-edge science to effectively immobilize nuclear waste in innovative ways. As part of the Center for Hierarchical Waste Form Materials, SRNL is leveraging its depth of experience in radiological waste management to explore new frontiers in the industry.
L. El-Guebaly, L. Cadwallader, W. Sowder, ARIES Team
Fusion Science and Technology | Volume 60 | Number 2 | August 2011 | Pages 751-759
Safety & Environment | Proceedings of the Nineteenth Topical Meeting on the Technology of Fusion Energy (TOFE) (Part 2) | doi.org/10.13182/FST11-A12475
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
At present, there are no regulatory guidelines to follow for US fusion power plant construction and operation. Thus far, the Department of Energy (DOE) has been regulating existing fusion experiments, following the 1996-1999 DOE Fusion Standards and using the spirit of the ASME (American Society of Mechanical Engineers) code. Considering this reality, a few options emerged for licensing ARIES-type power plants and the like. Developing new fusion-specific regulations stands out as the most logical option, but requires well-coordinated effort between DOE, regulatory agencies, and the fusion community with considerable funding and long lead-time. Nevertheless, a few recent developments seem promising: 1) The US Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) plans to assert regulatory jurisdiction over commercial fusion devices, and 2) the ongoing effort within ASME will develop rules for the construction of fusion-energy-related components. The most recent NRC, ASME and fusion licensing developments are reviewed in this paper. In addition, an interesting comparison with ITER was made to foresee how US fusion power plants could leverage from ITER.