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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
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!
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Fusion Science and Technology
Latest News
Norway’s Halden reactor takes first step toward decommissioning
The government of Norway has granted the transfer of the Halden research reactor from the Institute for Energy Technology (IFE) to the state agency Norwegian Nuclear Decommissioning (NND). The 25-MWt Halden boiling water reactor operated from 1958 to 2018 and was used in the research of nuclear fuel, reactor internals, plant procedures and monitoring, and human factors.
Keith J. Leonard, Tolga Aytug, Albert A. Gapud, Fredrick A. List III, Nathan T. Greenwood, Yanwen Zhang, Alejandro G. Perez-Bergquist, William J. Weber
Fusion Science and Technology | Volume 66 | Number 1 | July-August 2014 | Pages 57-62
Technical Paper | doi.org/10.13182/FST13-735
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
The latest generations of rare-earth substituted and nano-doped YBa2Cu3O7-x (YBCO) high temperature superconductors (HTS) developed for applications in magnetic fields are being evaluated for potential use in fusion energy applications. The benefits include increased plasma performance and reduced system cost through more compact and cryoplant-free fusion energy systems. The response to ion irradiation of commercially produced GdBa2Cu3O7-x, (Y,Dy)Ba2Cu3O7-x, and Zr-doped (Y,Gd)Ba2Cu3O7-x samples was investigated. These state-of-the-art conductors represent different design methods for enhanced flux pinning, resulting in different responses to radiation damage. Irradiations using 5-MeV Ni and 25-MeV Au ions were used to examine cascade damage while keeping electronic energy loss levels below columnar defect thresholds. An improved radiation tolerance is found in these new generation HTS conductors. Specifically, the influences of irradiation on the superconducting critical temperatures and the electrical transport properties of the samples were much less than that observed on the earlier generation of irradiated HTS materials investigated by others.
