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
Young Members Group
The Young Members Group works to encourage and enable all young professional members to be actively involved in the efforts and endeavors of the Society at all levels (Professional Divisions, ANS Governance, Local Sections, etc.) as they transition from the role of a student to the role of a professional. It sponsors non-technical workshops and meetings that provide professional development and networking opportunities for young professionals, collaborates with other Divisions and Groups in developing technical and non-technical content for topical and national meetings, encourages its members to participate in the activities of the Groups and Divisions that are closely related to their professional interests as well as in their local sections, introduces young members to the rules and governance structure of the Society, and nominates young professionals for awards and leadership opportunities available to members.
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.
Hitesh Patel, Nirmal Panda, Nitin Kanoongo, K. Balasubramanian, M. J. Singh, Arun Chakraborty
Fusion Science and Technology | Volume 77 | Number 4 | May 2021 | Pages 298-309
Technical Paper | doi.org/10.1080/15361055.2021.1898856
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
High heat flux components form the primary interface for thermal management of injectors in fusion devices. The requirement for such application varies from 1 to 10 MW/m2. Ultra-high-vacuum compatibility is the inherent characteristic of such components, and manufacturing processes involve the development of specific materials, process qualification of special processes like electron beam welding (EBW), and component performance validation. One such component of active thermal management in a neutral beam injector is the hypervapatron-based heat transfer element (HTE), which is designed to absorb heat flux as high as 10 MW/m2. The route to realization is through a prototype and a one-to-one model and evaluating their performance. The development route of HTEs includes several important areas. One area is development of precipitation-hardened CuCrZr material characterized for its fatigue life (more than 100 000 stress-controlled cycles); mechanical properties at ambient temperature [ultimate tensile strength (UTS) >384 MPa, elongation >13%] and at operational temperature, i.e., 350°C (UTS >263 MPa, elongation >14%); and restricted chemical composition range of Cr, Zr, Cd, and O2 to enhance the precipitation effect and weldability of the component. A second area is similar material (CuCrZr to CuCrZr) and dissimilar material (CuCrZr-Ni-SS316L) joining by an advanced technology like EBW in a controlled environment to enhance the localized high heat input over a large weld penetration depth with minimal distortion and thereby overcome the effect of thermal diffusion by typical copper during welding. A third area is validation of these weld joints with respect to international codes/standards. Successful realization of this route establishes HTEs as main baseline components of the high heat flux system or neutral beam system. Similar application areas can be identified in various fusion devices. The paper presents the implementation of this realization route of prototype HTEs including details of the assessment carried out with respect to application.
