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.
Explore membership for yourself or for your organization.
Conference Spotlight
Nuclear Energy Conference & Expo (NECX)
September 8–11, 2025
Atlanta, GA|Atlanta Marriott Marquis
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
Jul 2025
Jan 2025
Latest Journal Issues
Nuclear Science and Engineering
August 2025
Nuclear Technology
Fusion Science and Technology
July 2025
Latest News
NRC approves V.C. Summer’s second license renewal
Dominion Energy’s V.C. Summer nuclear power plant, in Jenkinsville, S.C., has been authorized to operate for 80 years, until August 2062, following the renewal of its operating license by the Nuclear Regulatory Commission for a second time.
E.T. Cheng
Fusion Science and Technology | Volume 34 | Number 3 | November 1998 | Pages 489-495
Nonelectrical Applications | doi.org/10.13182/FST98-A11963660
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
The ST-VNS devices designed for testing and developing fusion power blanket may offer a unique opportunity for near-term, non-electric applications:
-A minimum size, MW level, plasma based 14 MeV neutron source can be very attractive for neutron science applications such as neutron and gamma radiography, and isotope production.-A 70–250 MW level ST-VNS can provide neutrons to drive a sub-critical fission assembly to destroy the actinides discharged from about 10–30 light water reactors and to produce power. A further reduction of long-term radiological hazard from fission power plants can be assured when additional 1,000 – 3,000 MW fusion reactors are developed in the future to transmute the long-lived fission products, Tc and I.-The ST-VNS device also offers a possibility to produce tritium for industrial and defense applications. A 300 MW spin-off device is capable of producing an excess tritium of 2 kg annually, when a conservative overall tritium breeding ratio of 1.2 and 60% availability are assumed.
A minimum size, MW level, plasma based 14 MeV neutron source can be very attractive for neutron science applications such as neutron and gamma radiography, and isotope production.
A 70–250 MW level ST-VNS can provide neutrons to drive a sub-critical fission assembly to destroy the actinides discharged from about 10–30 light water reactors and to produce power. A further reduction of long-term radiological hazard from fission power plants can be assured when additional 1,000 – 3,000 MW fusion reactors are developed in the future to transmute the long-lived fission products, Tc and I.
The ST-VNS device also offers a possibility to produce tritium for industrial and defense applications. A 300 MW spin-off device is capable of producing an excess tritium of 2 kg annually, when a conservative overall tritium breeding ratio of 1.2 and 60% availability are assumed.