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
Education, Training & Workforce Development
The Education, Training & Workforce Development Division provides communication among the academic, industrial, and governmental communities through the exchange of views and information on matters related to education, training and workforce development in nuclear and radiological science, engineering, and technology. Industry leaders, education and training professionals, and interested students work together through Society-sponsored meetings and publications, to enrich their professional development, to educate the general public, and to advance nuclear and radiological science and engineering.
Meeting Spotlight
International Conference on Mathematics and Computational Methods Applied to Nuclear Science and Engineering (M&C 2025)
April 27–30, 2025
Denver, CO|The Westin Denver Downtown
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
June 2025
Nuclear Technology
Fusion Science and Technology
May 2025
Latest News
Argonne’s METL gears up to test more sodium fast reactor components
Argonne National Laboratory has successfully swapped out an aging cold trap in the sodium test loop called METL (Mechanisms Engineering Test Loop), the Department of Energy announced April 23. The upgrade is the first of its kind in the United States in more than 30 years, according to the DOE, and will help test components and operations for the sodium-cooled fast reactors being developed now.
Rajiv Sharma, Alkesh M. Mavani, V. L. Tanna
Fusion Science and Technology | Volume 80 | Number 2 | February 2024 | Pages 230-243
Research Article | doi.org/10.1080/15361055.2023.2223742
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
An epoxy resin system is used in a superconducting tokamak to insulate the conducting components, such as superconducting windings, cooling pipes, metal electrodes, and bonding and sealing of dissimilar material joints at cryogenic temperature. The main aim is to develop and fabricate the dissimilar material joints of metal and glass fiber reinforced plastic (GFRP) polymer in the form of cryogenic components for the superconducting fusion magnet. To bond and fabricate the dissimilar joints, the epoxy resin needs to have low viscosity, good adhesion, resistance to moisture, long usable life, and high toughness at low temperatures.
A two-component-modified diglycidyl ether of bisphenol-A (DGEBA) epoxy resin was formulated with a modified polyamine-based hardener. To increase the toughness and minimize the induced thermal stress at low temperatures, a silane coupling agent, gamma-aminopropyltrithoxysilane, was used for its superior bonding and fast curing process. The tensile strength examination test results were found to 85 MPa, as per the International Organization for Standardization standard ISO 527-2, and an interlaminar shear strength of 12 MPa was found, as per the American Society for Testing and Materials standard ASTM D5868 at 77 K, respectively.
The mechanical performance enhancements at 77 K overcome the issue of cracks and helium leaks that develop at cryogenic temperatures, as reported. The dissimilar material joints fabricated using the epoxy resin in the form of a cryo component have been validated in machine with an acceptable helium leak tightness of 1.0E-08 mbar-l/s. In this work, we report on the development, mechanical, thermal, and electrical performance tests, the testing and failures of various epoxy resins systems used, and the cryo components at 300 and 77 K.