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On moving fast and breaking things
Craig Piercycpiercy@ans.org
So much of what is happening in federal nuclear policy these days seems driven by a common approach popularized in the technology sector. Silicon Valley calls it “move fast and break things,” a phrase originally associated with Facebook’s early culture under Mark Zuckerberg. The idea emerged in the early 2000s as software companies discovered that rapid iteration, frequent experimentation, and a willingness to tolerate failure could dramatically accelerate innovation. This philosophy helped drive the growth of the social media, smartphones, cloud computing, and digital platforms that now underpin modern economic and social life.
Today, that mindset is also influencing federal nuclear policy. The Trump administration views accelerated nuclear deployment as part of a broader competition with China for technological and AI leadership. In that context, it seems willing to accept greater operational risk in pursuit of strategic advantage and long-term economic and security objectives.
R.A.H. Edwards, P. Pacenti
Fusion Science and Technology | Volume 28 | Number 3 | October 1995 | Pages 1478-1484
Tritium Waste Management and Discharge Control | 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-A30621
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
Detriation studies are critical for assessing the feasibility and costs of the ITER disposal plan for tritiated waste. A flexible apparatus has been commissioned for studying the detritiation of hard waste samples, by heating, melting, or dissolving them in molten metal. It is installed in a new laboratory approved for the simultaneous handling of tritium and beryllium. R.F. heating means the specimen temperature is limited only by the crucible material. A filter confines beryllium contamination to the silica glass specimen tube. There is independent control of carrier gas flow rate and pressure at any value between 10−7 mbar and 1 bar. All tubing is warmed to allow the use of wet carrier gases, and to reduce tritium memory. No organic materials are used. A specially constructed low-memory bakable ionization chamber and all-glass bubbler-set enable sensitive measurements of the tritium outgassing with minimised memory effects.