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
Aerospace Nuclear Science & Technology
Organized to promote the advancement of knowledge in the use of nuclear science and technologies in the aerospace application. Specialized nuclear-based technologies and applications are needed to advance the state-of-the-art in aerospace design, engineering and operations to explore planetary bodies in our solar system and beyond, plus enhance the safety of air travel, especially high speed air travel. Areas of interest will include but are not limited to the creation of nuclear-based power and propulsion systems, multifunctional materials to protect humans and electronic components from atmospheric, space, and nuclear power system radiation, human factor strategies for the safety and reliable operation of nuclear power and propulsion plants by non-specialized personnel and more.
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.
R. Michling, I. Cristescu, L. Dörr, T. Fanghänel, S. Welte, W. Wurster
Fusion Science and Technology | Volume 54 | Number 2 | August 2008 | Pages 470-474
Technical Paper | Water Processing | doi.org/10.13182/FST08-A1856
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
These days more and more modern electrolysis cells are operated with new solid polymer membranes. These membranes prevailing DuPont's Nafion® are not only used for electrolysis but as well for the wide spectrum of fuel cells due to their good mechanical and chemical stability and the high proton conductivity. For that reason it is intended to use these solid polymer membranes for the electrolyzer units in the ITER Water Detritiation System (WDS). The influence of Tritium during water electrolysis to the membrane material is still not sufficiently investigated. Therefore long-term experiments of solid polymer membranes were performed at Tritium Laboratory Karlsruhe (TLK). The chemical degradation and durability behavior of the used Nafion® 117 membrane are investigated in details under tritiated water conditions. For comparison a second cell was operated with demineralized water for the same period.In addition to the experimental rigs with single Nafion® membranes, two industrial electrolyzer units equipped with Nafion® membranes were operated during different tritium experiments at TLK. Before operation they had been modified to be compatible for tritium operation. After long operation period no degradation in the performance of the electrolyzers is observable.
