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
Apr 2025
Jan 2025
Latest Journal Issues
Nuclear Science and Engineering
May 2025
Nuclear Technology
April 2025
Fusion Science and Technology
Latest News
Norway’s Halden reactor takes first step toward decommissioning
The government of Norway has granted the transfer of the Halden research reactor from the Institute for Energy Technology (IFE) to the state agency Norwegian Nuclear Decommissioning (NND). The 25-MWt Halden boiling water reactor operated from 1958 to 2018 and was used in the research of nuclear fuel, reactor internals, plant procedures and monitoring, and human factors.
Armando B. Antoniazzi, Clive S. Morton, Kevin P. Chen, Baojun Liu
Fusion Science and Technology | Volume 54 | Number 2 | August 2008 | Pages 635-638
Technical Paper | Process Applications | doi.org/10.13182/FST08-A1895
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
A tritium exposure apparatus has been designed and built for the purposes of generating a high-pressure tritium atmosphere at 523 K. The loading system consists of a uranium tritide storage bed, an intermediate tritium transfer chamber filled with 5A molecular sieve, and the sample exposure chamber. The loading system resides in a sealed glovebox with a nitrogen atmosphere that is continually purged through a Glovebox Clean-up System. The tritium used in each loading experiment is approximately 6000 Ci (22 TBq). The process entails transferring the tritium inventory from the uranium storage bed to the cryogenically cooled (77 K) molecular sieve chamber. The molecular sieve at liquid nitrogen temperature is capable of adsorbing tritium to densities of 290 Ci/gram at one atmosphere. At 523 K a maximum tritium pressure of 21 MPa is achieved. The loading apparatus is used to develop high-density radioactive isotope fuel for self-powered microelectronic and micromechanical devices. This paper presents the design specifics of the tritium exposure apparatus, the steps taken in generating the high-temperature, high-pressure tritium atmosphere and the performance characteristics of the apparatus. Additionally, the handling practices and equipment utilized to conduct the tests safely are presented.