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
Nuclear Installations Safety
Devoted specifically to the safety of nuclear installations and the health and safety of the public, this division seeks a better understanding of the role of safety in the design, construction and operation of nuclear installation facilities. The division also promotes engineering and scientific technology advancement associated with the safety of such facilities.
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.
Jae-Uk Lee, Min Ho Chang, Hyun-Goo Kang, Dong-You Chung, Sei-Hun Yun, Suh-Young Lee, In-Beum Lee
Fusion Science and Technology | Volume 75 | Number 8 | November 2019 | Pages 1046-1052
Technical Paper | doi.org/10.1080/15361055.2019.1643688
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
This paper presents a dynamic model and simulation of the fuel delivery process between the separation system and the fueling system in the fusion fuel cycle considering the time-varying tokamak fuel demand. The fuel delivery process consists of vacuum pumps, valves, pressure vessels, and pipelines. Experimental data are applied to model the performance curves of the vacuum pumps. The delivery pressure is needed to be controlled to satisfy the pressure requirement of the fueling system. The developed dynamic model can be used to investigate delivery pressure fluctuation under various demand scenarios including a certain peak demand. The model is applied to the tritium delivery line during the inductive operation of the tokamak. Several rules for vessel switching are analyzed to examine the change of delivery pressure. The results show that the fluctuation can be reduced by switching vessels just before peak demand. The pressure fluctuation must be avoided by improving the flow coefficient of the control valve.
