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Explore the many uses for nuclear science and its impact on energy, the environment, healthcare, food, and more.
Division Spotlight
Aerospace Nuclear Science & Technology
Organized to promote the advancement of knowledge in the use of nuclear science and technologies in the aerospace application. Specialized nuclear-based technologies and applications are needed to advance the state-of-the-art in aerospace design, engineering and operations to explore planetary bodies in our solar system and beyond, plus enhance the safety of air travel, especially high speed air travel. Areas of interest will include but are not limited to the creation of nuclear-based power and propulsion systems, multifunctional materials to protect humans and electronic components from atmospheric, space, and nuclear power system radiation, human factor strategies for the safety and reliable operation of nuclear power and propulsion plants by non-specialized personnel and more.
Meeting Spotlight
2027 ANS Winter Conference and Expo
October 31–November 4, 2027
Washington, DC|The Westin Washington, DC 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!
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November 2024
Latest News
Disney World should have gone nuclear
There is extra significance to the American Nuclear Society holding its annual meeting in Orlando, Florida, this past week. That’s because in 1967, the state of Florida passed a law allowing Disney World to build a nuclear power plant.
John Caird et al.
Fusion Science and Technology | Volume 56 | Number 2 | August 2009 | Pages 607-617
Laser Fusion-Fission Hybrid | Eighteenth Topical Meeting on the Technology of Fusion Energy (Part 2) | doi.org/10.13182/FST18-P8031
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
We have developed preliminary conceptual laser system designs for the Laser ICF (Inertial Confinement Fusion) Fission Energy (LIFE) application. Our approach leverages experience in high-energy Nd: glass laser technology developed for the National Ignition Facility (NIF), along with high-energy-class diode-pumped solid-state laser (HEC-DPSSL) technology system.We present laser system designs suitable for both indirect-drive, hot spot ignition and indirect-drive, fast ignition targets. Main amplifiers for both systems use laser-diode-angle, as in NIF, but the slabs are much thinner to allow for cooling by high-velocity helium gas as in the Mercury laser system. We also describe a plan to mass-produce pump-diode lasers to bring diode costs down to the order of $0.01 per Watt of peak output power, as needed to make the LIFE application economically attractive.
