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Division Spotlight
Young Members Group
The Young Members Group works to encourage and enable all young professional members to be actively involved in the efforts and endeavors of the Society at all levels (Professional Divisions, ANS Governance, Local Sections, etc.) as they transition from the role of a student to the role of a professional. It sponsors non-technical workshops and meetings that provide professional development and networking opportunities for young professionals, collaborates with other Divisions and Groups in developing technical and non-technical content for topical and national meetings, encourages its members to participate in the activities of the Groups and Divisions that are closely related to their professional interests as well as in their local sections, introduces young members to the rules and governance structure of the Society, and nominates young professionals for awards and leadership opportunities available to members.
Meeting Spotlight
ANS Student Conference 2025
April 3–5, 2025
Albuquerque, NM|The University of New Mexico
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
First astatine-labeled compound shipped in the U.S.
The Department of Energy’s National Isotope Development Center (NIDC) on March 31 announced the successful long-distance shipment in the United States of a biologically active compound labeled with the medical radioisotope astatine-211 (At-211). Because previous shipments have included only the “bare” isotope, the NIDC has described the development as “unleashing medical innovation.”
Hans G. Kaper, Gary K. Leaf, Arthur J. Lindeman
Nuclear Science and Engineering | Volume 49 | Number 1 | September 1972 | Pages 27-48
Technical Paper | doi.org/10.13182/NSE72-A22525
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
This paper contains the results of detailed comparison studies of the efficiency of high order finite element approximations vs low order finite difference approximations, for the numerical solution of the static multigroup diffusion equation in two dimensions. The comparisons are based on the execution times for a Keff calculation with a prescribed precision for two particular computer programs— HOD (finite elements) and D ARC2D (finite differences). The calculations were performed for three different types of reactor configurations: a simple two-zone configuration with two energy groups, a multizone configuration [1000-MW(e) LMFBR mockup] with four energy groups, and a loosely coupled configuration with two energy groups. The conclusions are: 1. The use of high order approximation procedures based on finite element methods leads to substantial execution time savings and offers not just a viable alternative to the use of low order approximation procedures based on finite difference methods; it is, indeed, a significant advancement in computational capability. 2. With high order approximation procedures based on finite element methods it is possible to obtain, at reasonable cost, solutions to the multigroup diffusion equation which are sufficiently accurate that any errors can be attributed to either the diffusion theory approximation or other approximations in the reactor model, rather than to the numerical approximation procedure. 3. Solutions obtained with the finite element method provide as much accuracy in the flux inventories as in the multiplication factor.
