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Division Spotlight
Accelerator Applications
The division was organized to promote the advancement of knowledge of the use of particle accelerator technologies for nuclear and other applications. It focuses on production of neutrons and other particles, utilization of these particles for scientific or industrial purposes, such as the production or destruction of radionuclides significant to energy, medicine, defense or other endeavors, as well as imaging and diagnostics.
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
First astatine-labeled compound shipped in the U.S.
The Department of Energy’s National Isotope Development Center (NIDC) on March 31 announced the successful long-distance shipment in the United States of a biologically active compound labeled with the medical radioisotope astatine-211 (At-211). Because previous shipments have included only the “bare” isotope, the NIDC has described the development as “unleashing medical innovation.”
Paul Korinko, Richard Wyrwas, William Spencer, Brent Peters, Edward Stein, Dale Hitchcock
Fusion Science and Technology | Volume 71 | Number 3 | April 2017 | Pages 403-409
Technical Note | doi.org/10.1080/15361055.2017.1293415
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
Tritium is highly reactive with many materials. It is adsorbed onto and absorbed through the surface of containment vessels subsequently modifying the contained gas composition by isotopic exchange and catalytic reactions with surface elements and adsorbed gas species. Savannah River Tritium Enterprise (SRTE) uses a proprietary surface treatment that is intended to render the surface inert. Unfortunately, this process has not proven to be sufficiently robust for containing tritium gas standards. SRTE has funded a project that will explore the effects of electropolishing and vacuum and oxidizing thermal treatments on surface passivation of stainless steel (SS). Herein, a statistically designed series of experiments will be discussed that will inform optimized parameters for acid composition, current density, and other electrochemical process variables for the passivation of SS. The surfaces were analyzed using Laser Induced Breakdown Spectroscopy (LIBS), Auger Electron Spectroscopy (AES), Atomic Force Microscopy (AFM), and Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM). Novel techniques to characterize the passive layers are also being developed. In future experiments, gas sample bottles will be loaded with protium and deuterium to determine the relative exchange characteristics of the treated vessels. Previous work has indicated that if little protium ingrowth occurs or few contaminant species form, e.g., methane or ammonia, and little hydrogen exchange occurs in a protium and deuterium gas mixture the treatment is suitable for maintaining the tritium stability. This statement is not intended to imply that tritium, deuterium, protium mixes will not exchange, only that these results are useful as a screening tool prior to tritium exposure.