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
Robotics & Remote Systems
The Mission of the Robotics and Remote Systems Division is to promote the development and application of immersive simulation, robotics, and remote systems for hazardous environments for the purpose of reducing hazardous exposure to individuals, reducing environmental hazards and reducing the cost of performing work.
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.
Y.-Z. Wei, K. Takeshita, M. Shimizu, M. Kumagai, Y. Takashima, S. Matsumoto
Fusion Science and Technology | Volume 28 | Number 3 | October 1995 | Pages 1585-1590
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-A30638
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
Deactivation of a hydrophobic Pt/SDBC catalyst for the H2/HTO isotopic exchange reaction used to remove tritium from the waste water generated in a nuclear-fuel reprocessing plant has been studied experimentally. The catalyst was poisoned reversibly by a small amount of HN03 and could be regenerated by washing with water followed by drying in an inert gas. As a countermeasure against this poisoning, the neutralization of the waste water was found to be effective. The presence of I2 in the waste water caused a sharp decrease in the activity of the catalyst, due to the irreversible adsorption of I2 onto the catalyst surface. The I2 poisoning could be prevented by the conversion of I2 into I− or IO3− by neutralization or redox reaction. TBP and the neutral nitrate salts of fission products such as Sr(NO3)2 showed negligible poisoning effects on the catalyst.