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
Reactor Physics
The division's objectives are to promote the advancement of knowledge and understanding of the fundamental physical phenomena characterizing nuclear reactors and other nuclear systems. The division encourages research and disseminates information through meetings and publications. Areas of technical interest include nuclear data, particle interactions and transport, reactor and nuclear systems analysis, methods, design, validation and operating experience and standards. The Wigner Award heads the awards program.
Meeting Spotlight
Utility Working Conference and Vendor Technology Expo (UWC 2024)
August 4–7, 2024
Marco Island, FL|JW Marriott Marco Island
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
Jul 2024
Jan 2024
Latest Journal Issues
Nuclear Science and Engineering
August 2024
Nuclear Technology
Fusion Science and Technology
Latest News
Vogtle-3 shuts down for valve issue
One of the new Vogtle units in Georgia was shut down unexpectedly on Monday last week for a valve issue that has since been investigated and repaired. According to multiple local news outlets, Georgia Power reported on July 17 that Unit 3 was back in service.
Southern Company spokesperson Jacob Hawkins confirmed that Vogtle-3 went off line at 9:25 p.m. local time on July 8 “due to lowering water levels in the steam generators caused by a valve issue on one of the three main feedwater pumps.”
Sergei Zimin
Fusion Science and Technology | Volume 26 | Number 2 | September 1994 | Pages 153-167
Technical Paper | Blanket Engineering | doi.org/10.13182/FST94-A30339
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
Although neutron-induced activation in a fusion reactor is a nonlinear problem whose solution requires the use of both neutron transport and activation codes, a simplified analytical approach to bismuth and polonium build-up in lead is proposed to estimate the polonium inventory and the related biological hazards of LiPb-bearing blankets. All neutronic reactions of polonium build-up in lead and in its bismuth impurities are surveyed and discussed. The contribution of the different possible chains to the build-up of polonium is evaluated. A set of differential equations for the densities of 209Bi and 210Po isotopes in the lead is worked into simplified, easy-to-use expressions. These analytical formulas obtained for the densities can be used for the estimation of both the bismuth and the polonium densities after any reactor operation time and allow identification of the build-up mechanisms of those isotopes. A simplified formula for polonium inventory estimations at any blanket zone is proposed as well. The polonium inventory evaluation takes into account the initial conditions (primarily bismuth impurity in the lead) and the reactor operation conditions, such as the average availability of a fusion reactor and the blanket operation scenario.