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Nuclear Nonproliferation Policy
The mission of the Nuclear Nonproliferation Policy Division (NNPD) is to promote the peaceful use of nuclear technology while simultaneously preventing the diversion and misuse of nuclear material and technology through appropriate safeguards and security, and promotion of nuclear nonproliferation policies. To achieve this mission, the objectives of the NNPD are to: Promote policy that discourages the proliferation of nuclear technology and material to inappropriate entities. Provide information to ANS members, the technical community at large, opinion leaders, and decision makers to improve their understanding of nuclear nonproliferation issues. Become a recognized technical resource on nuclear nonproliferation, safeguards, and security issues. Serve as the integration and coordination body for nuclear nonproliferation activities for the ANS. Work cooperatively with other ANS divisions to achieve these objective nonproliferation policies.
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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
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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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Latest News
Argonne’s METL gears up to test more sodium fast reactor components
Argonne National Laboratory has successfully swapped out an aging cold trap in the sodium test loop called METL (Mechanisms Engineering Test Loop), the Department of Energy announced April 23. The upgrade is the first of its kind in the United States in more than 30 years, according to the DOE, and will help test components and operations for the sodium-cooled fast reactors being developed now.
Dale M. Meade
Fusion Science and Technology | Volume 39 | Number 2 | March 2001 | Pages 336-342
Fusion Technology Plenary | doi.org/10.13182/FST01-A11963257
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
Experiments are needed to test and extend present understanding of confinement, macroscopic stability, alpha-driven instabilities, and particle/power exhaust in plasmas dominated by alpha heating. A design study of a Fusion Ignition Research Experiment (FIRE) is underway to assess near term opportunities for producing and studying fusion dominated plasmas in the laboratory. The emphasis is on understanding the behavior of fusion plasmas dominated by alpha heating (Q ≥ 5) that are sustained for a duration comparable to the characteristic plasma time scales (≥ 20 τE and ~ 1.5 τskin, where τskin is the time for the plasma current profile to redistribute at fixed current). These requirements can be satisfied with BeCu/OFHC toroidal field coils and OFHC poloidal coils that are pre-cooled to 77 °K prior to the pulse. The plasma facing components will have tungsten divertor plates and Be first wall tiles. No graphite is allowed inside the vacuum vessel due to tritium retention issues. The mission of FIRE is to attain, explore, understand and optimize alpha-dominated plasmas to provide knowledge for the design of attractive magnetic fusion energy systems. The programmatic strategy is to access the alpha-heating-dominated regime with confidence using the present advanced tokamak data base (e.g., Elmy-H-mode, ≤ 0.75 Greenwald density) while maintaining the flexibility for accessing and exploring other advanced tokamak modes (e. g., reversed shear, pellet enhanced performance) at lower magnetic fields and fusion power for longer durations in later stages of the experimental program. A major constraint is to develop a design concept that could meet these physics objectives with a construction cost in the range of $1B.