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
Education, Training & Workforce Development
The Education, Training & Workforce Development Division provides communication among the academic, industrial, and governmental communities through the exchange of views and information on matters related to education, training and workforce development in nuclear and radiological science, engineering, and technology. Industry leaders, education and training professionals, and interested students work together through Society-sponsored meetings and publications, to enrich their professional development, to educate the general public, and to advance nuclear and radiological science and engineering.
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.
A. R. Raffray, F. Escourbiac, F. J. Fuentes, L. Giancarli, B. Macklin, A. Martin, M. Merola, R. Mitteau, J. Palmer
Fusion Science and Technology | Volume 68 | Number 3 | October 2015 | Pages 465-476
Technical Paper | Proceedings of TOFE-2014 | doi.org/10.13182/FST14-945
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
The overall programmatic objective of ITER is to demonstrate the scientific and technological feasibility of fusion energy for peaceful purposes. The physics part of this objective (including burning plasma, Q of at least 10 and stationary conditions) seems to be well appreciated by the scientific community internationally. However, there seems to be less of an emphasis on the fusion technology part of the objective, which includes demonstrating the availability and integration of technologies essential for a fusion reactor and testing components including tritium breeding blanket modules for a future reactor. In fact important technology information will be obtained from the design, fabrication and operation of the vacuum vessel and out-of-vessel systems such as magnets, tritium system, cryogenic systems, cooling water systems, and associated safety aspects. In addition, DEMO-relevant information will be obtained from the operation of breeding blanket test modules in ITER. Moreover valuable information applicable to DEMO and beyond will also be obtained in a number of areas linked to in-vessel components. This paper summarizes the DEMO-relevant fusion technology information that will be obtained from ITER with a major focus on the areas linked to in-vessel components.