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
Nuclear Nonproliferation Policy
The mission of the Nuclear Nonproliferation Policy Division (NNPD) is to promote the peaceful use of nuclear technology while simultaneously preventing the diversion and misuse of nuclear material and technology through appropriate safeguards and security, and promotion of nuclear nonproliferation policies. To achieve this mission, the objectives of the NNPD are to: Promote policy that discourages the proliferation of nuclear technology and material to inappropriate entities. Provide information to ANS members, the technical community at large, opinion leaders, and decision makers to improve their understanding of nuclear nonproliferation issues. Become a recognized technical resource on nuclear nonproliferation, safeguards, and security issues. Serve as the integration and coordination body for nuclear nonproliferation activities for the ANS. Work cooperatively with other ANS divisions to achieve these objective nonproliferation policies.
Meeting Spotlight
Conference on Nuclear Training and Education: A Biennial International Forum (CONTE 2025)
February 3–6, 2025
Amelia Island, FL|Omni Amelia Island Resort
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!
Latest Magazine Issues
Jan 2025
Jul 2024
Latest Journal Issues
Nuclear Science and Engineering
February 2025
Nuclear Technology
Fusion Science and Technology
Latest News
How to talk about nuclear
In your career as a professional in the nuclear community, chances are you will, at some point, be asked (or volunteer) to talk to at least one layperson about the technology you know and love. You might even be asked to present to a whole group of nonnuclear folks, perhaps as a pitch to some company tangential to your company’s business. So, without further ado, let me give you some pointers on the best way to approach this important and surprisingly complicated task.
R. C. Lloyd, S. R. Bierman, E. D. Clayton
Nuclear Science and Engineering | Volume 55 | Number 1 | September 1974 | Pages 51-57
Technical Paper | doi.org/10.13182/NSE74-A23965
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
Results are presented from a series of criticality experiments with homogeneous plutonium-uranium fuel mixtures with plutonium content in the range of 5 to 8 wt%. The H:(Pu+U) atomic ratios covered a range from 19.5 to a high of 80.7: the experiments provide data in the region of moderation where the minimum critical volume occurs for homogeneous plutonium-uranium systems with a plutonium content of 8 wt%. The minimum critical spherical radius for material containing 8 wt% Pu in PuO2-UO2-water mixtures was determined to be 14.98 cm., The criticality factors were computed with neutron transport theory and Monte Carlo calculations, using the DTF-IV and the KENO-II codes with both ENDF/B-II and ENDF/B-III version cross sections. The calculated values were found to be within ±2% of unity.