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
Conference on Nuclear Training and Education: A Biennial International Forum (CONTE 2025)
February 3–6, 2025
Amelia Island, FL|Omni Amelia Island Resort
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
Jan 2025
Jul 2024
Latest Journal Issues
Nuclear Science and Engineering
February 2025
Nuclear Technology
Fusion Science and Technology
Latest News
Fermilab center renamed after late particle physicist Helen Edwards
Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory’s Integrated Engineering Research Center, which officially opened in January 2024, is now known as the Helen Edwards Engineering Center. The name was changed to honor the late particle physicist who led the design, construction, commissioning, and operation of the lab’s Tevatron accelerator and was part of the Water Resources Development Act signed by President Biden in December 2024, according to a Fermilab press release.
J. F. Hund, J. W. Crippen, K. Clark, N. Martinez, D. J. Jasion, M. P. Farrell, D. T. Frey
Fusion Science and Technology | Volume 63 | Number 2 | March-April 2013 | Pages 252-256
Technical Paper | Selected papers from 20th Target Fabrication Meeting, May 20-24, 2012, Santa Fe, NM, Guest Editor: Robert C. Cook | doi.org/10.13182/FST13-A16346
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
The National Ignition Campaign (NIC) target consists of precisely machined and assembled components. A subset of the components of this target is the aluminum shielding around the silicon support and cooling arms, which is designed to alleviate harmful unconverted light reflecting from the arms into the laser optics. This NIC target shielding consists of two external shields and four inner shields located between the arms. Recently, we have developed a process to add a plastic coating to the shields with precisely defined edges that can survive pressing the part into a three-dimensional shape. After this process was demonstrated on prototypes, it was further refined to improve yield and is currently being used to fabricate and deliver parts for NIC experiments on a regular basis. The final process that we developed consists of seven steps to fabricate these shields: (1) applying a photolithographed plastic layer to electrically isolate the shields from the electrical traces on the cooling arms, (2) plasma etching to improve adhesion during the subsequent aluminum coating, (3) large-batch electron-beam aluminum coating, (4) laser cutting and custom die cutting to various shapes and specified patterns, (5) utilizing heat pressing techniques that soften the plastic coating enough to be coined into a three-dimensional shape, (6) accurate positioning and bonding of Mylar liners under the tops of the shields, and (7) final characterization. Through these process steps high process yields were achieved against the rigorous NIC requirements.