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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
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!
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Nuclear Science and Engineering
November 2024
Nuclear Technology
Fusion Science and Technology
Latest News
A proactive approach to reactor vessel aging management
Unit 2 at the Prairie Island nuclear power plant near Red Wing, Minn., underwent an outage in fall 2023, which included extensive work on the reactor vessel using a novel approach to replace baffle-former bolts and lower radial clevis insert bolts. The work relied on extensive analysis beforehand to determine which bolts to replace such that only the new bolts were structurally credited for performance of their safety function. This proactive approach eliminated the need for costly contingencies associated with inspections.
Stephen Allan Becker
Fusion Science and Technology | Volume 80 | Number 1 | October 2024 | Pages S105-S109
Research Article | doi.org/10.1080/15361055.2023.2235494
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
On October 31, 1952, the United States successfully detonated the Los Alamos Mike thermonuclear device on the surface of Elugelab Island at Eniwetok Atoll in the Pacific Ocean. This test was the first demonstration of a high-yield thermonuclear explosion on Earth. The 10.4-Mt device yield obliterated Elugelab Island and left a 6240-ft-diameter underwater crater. Later, radiochemical analysis of the explosion debris produced the unanticipated discovery of 15 new heavy transuranic isotopes and two new elements, which were later named einsteinium and fermium. Initially, the discovery of these elements was classified, but in 1955, the results were declassified and announced to the world. The Mike results later led to the development of the Heavy Element and Isotope Effort under the U.S. Plowshare Peaceful Nuclear Explosions Program, under which additional new heavy transuranic isotopes were produced.