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Isotopes & Radiation
Members are devoted to applying nuclear science and engineering technologies involving isotopes, radiation applications, and associated equipment in scientific research, development, and industrial processes. Their interests lie primarily in education, industrial uses, biology, medicine, and health physics. Division committees include Analytical Applications of Isotopes and Radiation, Biology and Medicine, Radiation Applications, Radiation Sources and Detection, and Thermal Power Sources.
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ANS Student Conference 2025
April 3–5, 2025
Albuquerque, NM|The University of New Mexico
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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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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.
D. R. Williamson, Jr., J. P. Blanchard
Fusion Science and Technology | Volume 47 | Number 4 | May 2005 | Pages 936-940
Technical Paper | Fusion Energy - Fusion Materials | doi.org/10.13182/FST05-A809
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
The Z-Accelerator is an intense x-ray source located at Sandia National Laboratory. On a typical shot, 20 MA of current passes through a cylindrical array of wires over tens of nanoseconds. The result is the release of 2 MJ of low-energy x-rays at approximately 200 TW. The wires are mostly vaporized in this time, but some wire fragments remain. We have developed a model for the deformation of these wires as they accelerate towards the center of the device. While the shot is generally over 200 nanoseconds, the model only covers times on the order of 1-4 nanoseconds, as it is a continuum model.The model begins with a 2-D finite element model that determines the forces and magnetic fields the titanium wires experience early in a typical shot. The magnetic field around the wires reaches a maximum of 210 Tesla when the current is a maximum. ANSYS provides a force per unit length that is applied to the wire over time.The forces that are determined in ANSYS are used in a separate computer code that solves the equations of motion for the wires. The code solves the 1-D wave equation with a periodic forcing function, using only the early portions of a cycle to approximate a monotonically increasing load. As the wire is displaced from its initial position, the tension should increase as the length of the wire increases. An incremental model is used to update the tension as the wire is displaced, effectively linearizing an inherently nonlinear problem. Results will be described that show the wires' behavior as a function of the initial tension applied to the wire.