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
Robotics & Remote Systems
The Mission of the Robotics and Remote Systems Division is to promote the development and application of immersive simulation, robotics, and remote systems for hazardous environments for the purpose of reducing hazardous exposure to individuals, reducing environmental hazards and reducing the cost of performing work.
Meeting Spotlight
International Conference on Mathematics and Computational Methods Applied to Nuclear Science and Engineering (M&C 2025)
April 27–30, 2025
Denver, CO|The Westin Denver Downtown
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
Apr 2025
Jan 2025
Latest Journal Issues
Nuclear Science and Engineering
May 2025
Nuclear Technology
Fusion Science and Technology
Latest News
Judge temporarily blocks DOE’s move to slash university research funding
A group of universities led by the American Association of Universities (AAU) acted swiftly to oppose a policy action by the Department of Energy that would cut the funds it pays to universities for the indirect costs of research under DOE grants. The group filed suit Monday, April 14, challenging a what it termed a “flagrantly unlawful action” that could “devastate scientific research at America’s universities.”
By Wednesday, the U.S. District Court judge hearing the case issued a temporary restraining order effective nationwide, preventing the DOE from implementing the policy or terminating any existing grants.
W. Brian Clarke
Fusion Science and Technology | Volume 40 | Number 2 | September 2001 | Pages 147-151
Technical Paper | doi.org/10.13182/FST01-A189
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
The 3He and 4He concentrations in 2- to 6-mg samples of palladium-black from the interior of Arata-style cathodes were investigated using a tungsten wire furnace on-line to an ultrahigh sensitivity static mass spectrometer. The detection limit of the mass spectrometer was ~104 atoms 3He and 108 atoms 4He, and the mass resolution of 1 part in 620 was sufficient to cleanly resolve 3He from H3 and HD. Three specimens of palladium-black (A, B, and C) were from hollow Pd cathodes that had generated excess heat in D2O electrolysis experiments carried out by Arata and Zhang in their laboratory. One specimen of Pd-black (D) had not been used in any electrolysis experiment. A total of twelve samples, three from each specimen, were analyzed. The 3He and 4He concentrations were variable as if due to sample inhomogeneity. Two samples (C-1 and B-1) showed apparent 4He of 4.4 × 109 atoms/mg and 6.6 × 109 atoms/mg, respectively, and three (A-3, B-2, and D-3) showed excess 3He from 77 to 1096 × 103 atoms/mg relative to the atmospheric 3He/4He ratio. Seven samples showed no apparent excess of 3He or 4He. Five samples of the aluminum foil used to wrap Pd-black samples were also analyzed and gave mean values of 13 ± 18 × 103 atoms/mg and 1.50 ± 0.66 × 109 atoms/mg for 3He and 4He, respectively. The values for Al and Pd-black are comparable to the 1978 results of Mamyrin, Khabarin, and Yudenich, who examined helium isotopes in many ordinary metals and other materials including Al and Pd. At present, there is no evidence for the very much larger concentrations (1016 to 1017 atoms/mg) of 3He and 4He that Arata and Zhang claim to have detected in similar specimens of Pd-black from Pd cathodes subjected to D2O electrolysis.