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.
G. Moll, S. Charton
Fusion Science and Technology | Volume 45 | Number 2 | March 2004 | Pages 233-244
Technical Paper | Target Fabrication | doi.org/10.13182/FST45-233
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
The temperature of the cryogenic target inside the hohlraum has been studied with a computational fluid dynamics code (FLUENT). Specific models have been developed and used for both thermal and hydrodynamic calculations.With thermal calculations only, we first have found the optimum heat flux required to counteract the effect of the laser entrance windows. This heat flux is centered on the hohlraum wall along the axis of revolution. With this heat flux, the temperature surface profiles of the capsule and the DT ice layer have been significantly reduced. Second, the sensitivity of the target temperature profiles (capsule and DT layer) relatively to capsule displacement has been determined. Thirdly, the effect of the shield extraction (shield surrounding the cryogenic structure) has been studied and has indicated that the target lifetime before the laser shot is less than 1s. Meanwhile, with hydrodynamic simulations, we have investigated the surface temperature profiles alteration due to He and H2 mixture convection within the hohlraum.In order to find out the variations between different configurations, results of these studies are given with seven significant digit outputs. Those results only indicate a trend because of the material's properties incertitude and the code approximation.