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
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
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
TerraPower begins U.K. regulatory approval process
Seattle-based TerraPower signaled its interest this week in building its Natrium small modular reactor in the United Kingdom, the company announced.
TerraPower sent a letter to the U.K.’s Department for Energy Security and Net Zero, formally establishing its intention to enter the U.K. generic design assessment (GDA) process. This is TerraPower’s first step in deployment of its Natrium technology—a 345-MW sodium fast reactor coupled with a molten salt energy storage unit—on the international stage.
Mark S. Jarzemba, James Weldy, English Pearcy, Jim Prikryl, David Pickett
Nuclear Science and Engineering | Volume 133 | Number 3 | November 1999 | Pages 335-341
Technical Paper | doi.org/10.13182/NSE99-A2093
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
Measurements are presented of gold concentration in rock/soil samples by delayed neutron activation analysis using a device and method that are potentially field portable. The device consists of a polyethylene moderator and 252Cf as the source of neutrons for activating the samples and a high-purity germanium detector to measure the 412-keV gamma-ray emissions from activated gold. This information is used to extract the gold concentration in the sample. Two types of samples were investigated: (a) pure SiO2 doped with a known amount of gold chloride and (b) U.S. Geological Survey standards. The former types were used to evaluate optimum device performance and to calibrate the device and method. The latter types were used to show typical system performance for the intended application (field exploration for gold deposits). It was found that the device was capable of determining gold concentrations to ~10 ppb with a turnaround time (the sum of irradiation, decay, and counting times) of ~10 days. For samples where the gold concentration was much higher (i.e., gold ore), turnaround times are ~2 days and could be shortened further by sacrificing accuracy (e.g., lessening irradiation, decay, and counting times) or by augmenting source strength.
