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
Mathematics & Computation
Division members promote the advancement of mathematical and computational methods for solving problems arising in all disciplines encompassed by the Society. They place particular emphasis on numerical techniques for efficient computer applications to aid in the dissemination, integration, and proper use of computer codes, including preparation of computational benchmark and development of standards for computing practices, and to encourage the development on new computer codes and broaden their use.
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.
Satoshi Suzuki, Kazuyoshi Sato, Masanori Araki, Kazuyuki Nakamura, Masayuki Dairaku, Kenji Yokoyama, Masato Akiba
Fusion Science and Technology | Volume 30 | Number 3 | December 1996 | Pages 788-792
Plasma-Facing Components: Analysis and Technology | doi.org/10.13182/FST96-A11963032
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
The divertor plate of next generation tokamak device such as the International Thermonuclear Experimental Reactor (ITER) is subjected to high heat and particle fluxes from the plasma. The armor material of the divertor plate will be damaged by plasma disruptions. Therefore the divertor components are required to be easily repaired or replaced. To realize the easy maintenance of divertor high heat flux components, the thermal bond layer (TBL) concept is the most promising. The TBL is a soft braze material which has a low melting temperature such as lead-based alloys. By using TBL for divertor high heat flux components, the damaged armor tiles are expected to be easily replaceable. Moreover, TBL plays a role of a compliant interlayer to reduce the interfacial thermal stress between the armor tile and the heat sink substrate. The authors have developed and tested Divertor Mock-UPS with lead-based TBL. This paper presents the results of the high heat flux experiments on the Divertor Mock-UPS with the TBL. The mock-up consists of replaceable armor blocks and a permanent substrate which is made of pure copper. The armor block consists of a bonded structure with armor tiles and a copper pivot. The armor blocks are brazed onto the substrate with pure lead. The permanent substrate has parallel cooling tubes which have twisted tape insert to enhance heat transfer. The high heat flux experiments on these mock-ups were carried out at JAERI Electron Beam Irradiation System (JEBIS). For the simulation of normal operation of ITER, the incident heat flux of 5 MW/m2 at a maximum pulse duration of 50 s was loaded; and for the simulation of transient period of ITER, the heat flux of up to 15 MW/m2 at a maximum pulse duration of 10 s was loaded. The thermal performance of the mock-ups was stably sustained against both thermal loads.