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
Decommissioning & Environmental Sciences
The mission of the Decommissioning and Environmental Sciences (DES) Division is to promote the development and use of those skills and technologies associated with the use of nuclear energy and the optimal management and stewardship of the environment, sustainable development, decommissioning, remediation, reutilization, and long-term surveillance and maintenance of nuclear-related installations, and sites. The target audience for this effort is the membership of the Division, the Society, and the public at large.
Meeting Spotlight
2024 ANS Winter Conference and Expo
November 17–21, 2024
Orlando, FL|Renaissance Orlando at SeaWorld
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
Aug 2024
Jan 2024
Latest Journal Issues
Nuclear Science and Engineering
September 2024
Nuclear Technology
Fusion Science and Technology
August 2024
Latest News
Nuclear new build procurement considerations
It may seem counterintuitive, but the best time to enhance the ability to support operations and maintenance for a new plant is before construction starts. This is one of many lessons learned by the currently operating nuclear fleet. As construction and startup of many nuclear facilities was completed, it quickly became evident that the ability to efficiently support operations and maintenance was limited. Most of the information necessary to establish and manage procurement of spare and replacement items, maintenance, and configuration of the facilities was unavailable and had to be gathered on a case-by-case, “on-demand” basis. Absence of necessary information and the associated challenges resulted in the need for staff augmentation and multiyear-long projects to develop equipment bills of material and maintenance programs and to perform technical evaluations for the huge quantities of spare and replacement items being requested.
William Searight, Leigh Winfrey
Fusion Science and Technology | Volume 77 | Number 7 | November 2021 | Pages 865-874
Student Paper Competition Selection | doi.org/10.1080/15361055.2021.1913373
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
One of the most pressing issues in the commercial development of fusion energy is the design and testing of high-temperature materials that can withstand high heat and particle fluxes while maintaining desirable structural and material performance. This challenge is also present in advanced fission reactor and nuclear thermal propulsion (NTP) system development, and experimental data generated from common material candidates provide novel cross-disciplinary validation and verification of model development. To this end, a hot hydrogen test loop capable of producing circulating hydrogen at temperatures up to 1200°C is being designed and constructed at The Pennsylvania State University, with the immediate intent to study the effects of hydrogen exposure on NTP component materials. These materials can include metals, ceramics, and any materials combination of interest. This work details the preliminary design work behind the current loop design, demonstrating effective operation at the current temperature requirement, and will inform higher-temperature designs where plasma effects become more significant.