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
Robotics & Remote Systems
The Mission of the Robotics and Remote Systems Division is to promote the development and application of immersive simulation, robotics, and remote systems for hazardous environments for the purpose of reducing hazardous exposure to individuals, reducing environmental hazards and reducing the cost of performing work.
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
Apr 2025
Jan 2025
Latest Journal Issues
Nuclear Science and Engineering
May 2025
Nuclear Technology
April 2025
Fusion Science and Technology
Latest News
Norway’s Halden reactor takes first step toward decommissioning
The government of Norway has granted the transfer of the Halden research reactor from the Institute for Energy Technology (IFE) to the state agency Norwegian Nuclear Decommissioning (NND). The 25-MWt Halden boiling water reactor operated from 1958 to 2018 and was used in the research of nuclear fuel, reactor internals, plant procedures and monitoring, and human factors.
A. C. Uggenti, G. F. Nallo, A. Carpignano, N. Pedroni, R. Zanino
Fusion Science and Technology | Volume 78 | Number 3 | April 2022 | Pages 186-198
Technical Paper | doi.org/10.1080/15361055.2021.1984720
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
A preliminary but systematic safety analysis of a liquid metal divertor (LMD) for the EU DEMO performed by means of the Functional Failure Mode and Effect Analysis (FFMEA) is presented. This methodology is suitable for the analysis of the LMD, which is undergoing preconceptual design. In fact, the FFMEA compensates for the lack of detailed design information by postulating the loss of a system function, rather than a specific component failure.
The implementation of the FFMEA led to a better understanding of the safety and operational issues associated with the system and to the identification of a list of postulated initiating events (PIEs), i.e., the most challenging conditions for the plant. The PIEs, together with their possible consequences, represent an input for future quantitative safety analyses. Due to the early design stage of the LMD and the iterative nature of the methodology, this list will evolve alongside the design detail and with improvements in the understanding of phenomena driving reactor behavior.
The study highlighted some safety-relevant issues, e.g., those related to materials compatibility and system modularity, to be addressed in the perspective of a safety-driven design evolution.