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.
Edward P. Naessens, Jr., Kenneth S. Allen, Brian E. Moretti
Nuclear Science and Engineering | Volume 152 | Number 3 | March 2006 | Pages 306-313
Technical Paper | doi.org/10.13182/NSE06-A2584
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
Current burnable absorbers such as boron carbide placed in the control rod guide tubes of fresh fuel assemblies create a water displacement penalty at end of cycle (EOC) that reduces the overall maximum cycle length of the reactor. Other burnable absorbers such as gadolinium-oxide mixed in the fuel do not create the water displacement penalty but create a lower centerline melt temperature for the fresh fuel and reduce the overall enrichment for the assembly. This research proposes using a transuranic (TRU) isotope with a relatively high absorption cross section such as 240Pu to reduce excess criticality within the reactor at beginning of cycle. The added benefit of using this TRU isotope over a standard burnable absorber is that when it absorbs a neutron it no longer negatively affects the criticality of the reactor, and it will transmutate into a fissile material that will add to the overall criticality of the reactor at EOC.
