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
Nuclear Installations Safety
Devoted specifically to the safety of nuclear installations and the health and safety of the public, this division seeks a better understanding of the role of safety in the design, construction and operation of nuclear installation facilities. The division also promotes engineering and scientific technology advancement associated with the safety of such facilities.
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
Feb 2025
Jul 2024
Latest Journal Issues
Nuclear Science and Engineering
March 2025
Nuclear Technology
Fusion Science and Technology
February 2025
Latest News
Colin Judge: Testing structural materials in Idaho’s newest hot cell facility
Idaho National Laboratory’s newest facility—the Sample Preparation Laboratory (SPL)—sits across the road from the Hot Fuel Examination Facility (HFEF), which started operating in 1975. SPL will host the first new hot cells at INL’s Materials and Fuels Complex (MFC) in 50 years, giving INL researchers and partners new flexibility to test the structural properties of irradiated materials fresh from the Advanced Test Reactor (ATR) or from a partner’s facility.
Materials meant to withstand extreme conditions in fission or fusion power plants must be tested under similar conditions and pushed past their breaking points so performance and limitations can be understood and improved. Once irradiated, materials samples can be cut down to size in SPL and packaged for testing in other facilities at INL or other national laboratories, commercial labs, or universities. But they can also be subjected to extreme thermal or corrosive conditions and mechanical testing right in SPL, explains Colin Judge, who, as INL’s division director for nuclear materials performance, oversees SPL and other facilities at the MFC.
SPL won’t go “hot” until January 2026, but Judge spoke with NN staff writer Susan Gallier about its capabilities as his team was moving instruments into the new facility.
Jack Metzler, Thuy Le
Fusion Science and Technology | Volume 28 | Number 3 | October 1995 | Pages 1359-1364
Design, Operation, and Maintenance of Tritium System | Proceedings of the Fifth Topical Meeting on Tritium Technology In Fission, Fusion, and Isotopic Applications Belgirate, Italy May 28-June 3, 1995 | doi.org/10.13182/FST95-A30601
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
The maintenance of a nuclear weapons capability requires the periodic replacement of tritium contained in each of the weapons in the nuclear weapons stockpile because the radioactive decay of tritium reduces its quantity by about 5.5 percent per year. The Tritium Recycling Plant (TRP) performs the activities necessary to recover, purify, and recycle tritium returned from the field. Tritium is contained in vessels called reservoirs. The TRP also has the capability to conduct environmental tests to ensure the reliability and quality of the reservoirs. Currently, the U.S. has no source of new tritium. The proposed new TRP is an option the U.S. Department of Energy (U.S. DOE) is considering that could be collocated with the new Tritium Supply Plant if it is built at Oak Ridge, Pantex, Nevada Test Site, or Idaho National Engineering Laboratory1. It will comply with applicable environment, safety and health, (ES&H) regulations and orders. If the new Tritium Supply Plant is built at the Savannah River Site, the existing TRP would be upgraded, as necessary.