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Division Spotlight
Young Members Group
The Young Members Group works to encourage and enable all young professional members to be actively involved in the efforts and endeavors of the Society at all levels (Professional Divisions, ANS Governance, Local Sections, etc.) as they transition from the role of a student to the role of a professional. It sponsors non-technical workshops and meetings that provide professional development and networking opportunities for young professionals, collaborates with other Divisions and Groups in developing technical and non-technical content for topical and national meetings, encourages its members to participate in the activities of the Groups and Divisions that are closely related to their professional interests as well as in their local sections, introduces young members to the rules and governance structure of the Society, and nominates young professionals for awards and leadership opportunities available to members.
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!
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Fusion Science and Technology
Latest News
First astatine-labeled compound shipped in the U.S.
The Department of Energy’s National Isotope Development Center (NIDC) on March 31 announced the successful long-distance shipment in the United States of a biologically active compound labeled with the medical radioisotope astatine-211 (At-211). Because previous shipments have included only the “bare” isotope, the NIDC has described the development as “unleashing medical innovation.”
Alan R. Krauss, A. B. DeWald, P. Scott, H. Savage
Fusion Science and Technology | Volume 19 | Number 3 | May 1991 | Pages 913-920
Advanced Reactor | doi.org/10.13182/FST91-A29461
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
The next generation of long pulse fusion devices will impose severe requirements on the properties of plasma-facing materials. In devices such as ITER, a divertor design is being considered, using a divertor plate which would be either tungsten or a low-Z material such as graphite or beryllium. Graphite and beryllium have a relatively high light ion erosion rate. Tungsten has a much lower sputtering rate for light ion impact, but it is subject to runaway self-sputtering. Because of its limited thermal conductivity, it must be used as a relatively thin plate which might be subject to damage during a disruption. Strongly segregating lithium alloys have been proposed as a means of producing a self-sustaining low-Z overlayer which lowers plasma Zeff and resists self-sputtering. Aluminum-lithium alloys are among the better-characterized lithium-bearing alloys, and it has been demonstrated that lithium segregates strongly in aluminum. However, aluminum has a relatively low melting point, and for low lithium concentrations, the lithium diffusion rate is too slow to replenish lithium at the rate at which it is eroded by the incoming plasma. It has been suggested previously that the β phase Al-Li alloy (48–54 at.% Li) should have high enough diffusivity to be able to replenish surface lithium, and that incorporation of the β-phase AlLi in a composite with tungsten would provide improved high temperature strength and melt layer stability, along with significantly better thermal conductivity than pure tungsten. Such a composite has been fabricated, as well as a variation containing titanium as a means of controlling oxidation at grain boundaries. The Li overlayer formation, erosion, and replenishment are characterized for the β-phase LiAl alloy, and W-AlLi and W-Ti-AlLi composites. It is found that Li diffusion is extremely rapid, and the composites form an oxygen-free Li overlayer which is stable under continuous ion beam sputtering.