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.
Explore membership for yourself or for your organization.
Conference Spotlight
2026 Nuclear Energy Conference & Expo (NECX)
August 24–27, 2026
Dallas, TX|Hilton Anatole
Latest Magazine Issues
Jul 2026
Jan 2026
2026
Latest Journal Issues
Nuclear Science and Engineering
September 2026
Nuclear Technology
August 2026
Fusion Science and Technology
Latest News
The human factor in licensing and operating the next generation of nuclear plants
As human factors specialists working at the intersection of human performance and nuclear operations, we are witnessing one of the nuclear sector’s most significant transitions in decades. The emergence of small modular reactors, microreactors, and other advanced designs is reshaping the industry’s landscape. Digital instrumentation and controls, passive safety systems, and increased automation are creating opportunities for greater safety margins and more flexible operation. These same features also fundamentally redefine what it means to “operate” a nuclear plant. Interactions among human roles, automation, and passive systems shape how people maintain awareness, exercise judgment, and intervene when necessary. These developments affect both operational realities and the regulatory foundations on which nuclear safety is built.
J. P. Biersack
Fusion Science and Technology | Volume 6 | Number 2 | September 1984 | Pages 475-482
Technical Paper | Selected papers from the Ninth International Vacuum Congress and the Fifth International Conference on Solid Surfaces (Madrid, Spain, September 26-October 1, 1983) | doi.org/10.13182/FST84-A23224
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
Sputtering yields for light ions in the energy range of 0.1–10 keV (particles from fusion plasma) or 40–160 keV under oblique angles (from neutral beam injectors) are difficult to predict by analytic theories. In particular, the sputtering of first wall coatings with low Z compound materials, e.g. TiB2, TiC, cannot be reliably treated in an analytic theory. For these reasons, a large number of cases were studied with the Monte-Carlo code TRIM over the past years. Numerous results were obtained for H, D, T, and He ions incident at various energies and angles on fusion first wall materials (metals and low Z compounds). In addition the sputtering yields as a function of incident energy and angle, and the angular and energy distributions of the sputtered atoms were investigated. Further studies were performed to gain more information on the mechanisms involved: sputtered atoms resulting from incident versus reflected ions, primary knock-on versus secondary knock-on atoms, atoms from the surface versus deeper layers of origin, etc. Experimental data, as far as available, will be compared with the TRIM results.