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Division Spotlight
Reactor Physics
The division's objectives are to promote the advancement of knowledge and understanding of the fundamental physical phenomena characterizing nuclear reactors and other nuclear systems. The division encourages research and disseminates information through meetings and publications. Areas of technical interest include nuclear data, particle interactions and transport, reactor and nuclear systems analysis, methods, design, validation and operating experience and standards. The Wigner Award heads the awards program.
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!
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Latest News
Discovering, Making, and Testing New Materials: SRNL’s Center For Hierarchical Waste Form Materials
Savannah River National Laboratory researchers are building on the laboratory’s legacy of using cutting-edge science to effectively immobilize nuclear waste in innovative ways. As part of the Center for Hierarchical Waste Form Materials, SRNL is leveraging its depth of experience in radiological waste management to explore new frontiers in the industry.
Timothy D. Welch, August W. Cronenberg
Nuclear Science and Engineering | Volume 67 | Number 2 | August 1978 | Pages 263-269
Technical Note | doi.org/10.13182/NSE78-A15444
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
An important question to the liquid-metal fast breeder reactor safety program is a description of molten fuel dynamics, or, more specifically, whether fuel will freeze locally on structural material within the reactor core, preventing dispersal and nuclear shutdown, or in the extremeties of the fuel assembly. In this Note, a comparison is made between the solidification processes for single-component (i.e., UO2) and mixed-oxide fuel [i.e., (U, Pu)O2] by solving a Stefan-type problem for both pure and binary alloy solidification. Analytic calculations indicate that the freezing rate of the mixed fuel is not significantly different from that for the single-component system; thus, single-front analysis may be used for such mixed-oxide fuels in assessing safety questions associated with solidifacation phenomena.