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 Criticality Safety
NCSD provides communication among nuclear criticality safety professionals through the development of standards, the evolution of training methods and materials, the presentation of technical data and procedures, and the creation of specialty publications. In these ways, the division furthers the exchange of technical information on nuclear criticality safety with the ultimate goal of promoting the safe handling of fissionable materials outside reactors.
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
DOE-EM awards $37.5M to Vanderbilt University for nuclear cleanup support
The Department of Energy’s Office of Environmental Management announced on January 16 that it has awarded a noncompetitive financial assistance agreement worth $37.5 million to Vanderbilt University in Nashville, Tenn., to aid the department’s mission of cleaning up legacy nuclear waste.
S. A. Hasnain, D. Okrent
Nuclear Science and Engineering | Volume 9 | Number 3 | March 1961 | Pages 314-322
Technical Paper | doi.org/10.13182/NSE61-A25882
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
The performance of some blanket designs is studied using economically optimized cycling based on a simple economics model. For an 800-liter core fast reactor having a 45-cm radial blanket and an average core power of 1-Mw per liter, it appears that the outermost blanket elements make enough plutonium to pay for the cost of their fabrication and processing, unless the core power density falls well below the expected value. A cyclic motion of elements in the inward radial direction has little effect on the economics if optimum cycling is followed. Moving the blanket elements may have engineering advantages however, such as a uniform buildup and burnup, and less variation in power locally with time. A paste blanket with radial inward motion and axial mixing has a similar behavior. Inclusion of moderating material in a fast reactor blanket is not promising for a high-power density reactor using optimum cycling, but it may prove valuable if blanket fluxes get very low or the residence times of the blanket elements are limited.