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Division Spotlight
Young Members Group
The Young Members Group works to encourage and enable all young professional members to be actively involved in the efforts and endeavors of the Society at all levels (Professional Divisions, ANS Governance, Local Sections, etc.) as they transition from the role of a student to the role of a professional. It sponsors non-technical workshops and meetings that provide professional development and networking opportunities for young professionals, collaborates with other Divisions and Groups in developing technical and non-technical content for topical and national meetings, encourages its members to participate in the activities of the Groups and Divisions that are closely related to their professional interests as well as in their local sections, introduces young members to the rules and governance structure of the Society, and nominates young professionals for awards and leadership opportunities available to members.
Meeting Spotlight
International Conference on Mathematics and Computational Methods Applied to Nuclear Science and Engineering (M&C 2025)
April 27–30, 2025
Denver, CO|The Westin Denver Downtown
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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Nuclear Technology
Fusion Science and Technology
Latest News
TerraPower begins U.K. regulatory approval process
Seattle-based TerraPower signaled its interest this week in building its Natrium small modular reactor in the United Kingdom, the company announced.
TerraPower sent a letter to the U.K.’s Department for Energy Security and Net Zero, formally establishing its intention to enter the U.K. generic design assessment (GDA) process. This is TerraPower’s first step in deployment of its Natrium technology—a 345-MW sodium fast reactor coupled with a molten salt energy storage unit—on the international stage.
D. A. McArthur, G. N. Hays, P. S. Pickard
Fusion Science and Technology | Volume 20 | Number 4 | December 1991 | Pages 753-758
Space Nuclear Power/Propulsion | doi.org/10.13182/FST91-A11946932
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
The FALCON reactor-pumped laser program is investigating concepts for high power laser systems pumped directly by fission energy from a nuclear reactor. The direct pumping of laser media with fission energy offers the potential system advantages of scaling to very high laser powers with long run times, extremely compact and low-mass energy storage, and relatively simple gain generator design. Reactor pumping has been studied in the ACRR and SPR research reactor facilities at Sandia National Laboratories. Based on these experiments and extensive system analysis, large reactor-pumped laser systems have been evaluated for extraction efficiency, beam quality, and practicality (considering auxiliary power needs, radiation damage to optical components, rejection of waste heat, and expected imperfections in excitation structures). It appears that high-power reactor-pumped lasers can be developed in the near term to provide important capabilities for the exploration and utilization of space.
