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
2025 ANS Winter Conference & Expo
November 9–12, 2025
Washington, DC|Washington Hilton
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
Oct 2025
Jul 2025
Latest Journal Issues
Nuclear Science and Engineering
November 2025
Nuclear Technology
Fusion Science and Technology
October 2025
Latest News
Researchers use one-of-a-kind expertise and capabilities to test fuels of tomorrow
At the Idaho National Laboratory Hot Fuel Examination Facility, containment box operator Jake Maupin moves a manipulator arm into position around a pencil-thin nuclear fuel rod. He is preparing for a procedure that he and his colleagues have practiced repeatedly in anticipation of this moment in the hot cell.
T. J. Dolan, G. R. Longhurst, E. Garcia-Otero
Fusion Science and Technology | Volume 21 | Number 3 | May 1992 | Pages 1949-1954
Material and Tritium | doi.org/10.13182/FST21-1949
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
We have designed a vacuum disengager system to remove tritium from the Flibe (Li2BeF4) molten salt coolant of the HYLIFE-II fusion reactor. There is a two-stage vacuum disengager in each of three intermediate heat exchanger (IHX) loops. Each stage consists of a vacuum chamber 4 m in diameter and 7 m tall. As 0.2 mm diameter molten salt droplets fall vertically downward into the vacuum, most of the tritium diffuses out of the droplets and is pumped away. A fraction Φ ≈ 10−5 of the 8.6 MCi/day tritium source (from breeding in the Flibe and from unburned fuel) remains in the Flibe as it leaves the vacuum disengagers, and about 21 % of that permeates into the intermediate coolant loop, so about 20 Ci/day leak into the steam system. With Flibe primary coolant and a vacuum disengager, it appears that an intermediate coolant loop is not needed to prevent tritium from leaking into the steam system. An experiment is needed to demonstrate Flibe vacuum disengager operation.