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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.
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2024 ANS Winter Conference and Expo
November 17–21, 2024
Orlando, FL|Renaissance Orlando at SeaWorld
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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New laws offer nuclear industry incentives for existing power plant uprates
This year, the U.S. nuclear industry received a much-needed economic boost that could help preserve operating nuclear power plants and incentivize upgrades that extend their lifespan and power output.
Signed into law in 2022, the Inflation Reduction Act offers production tax credits (PTCs) for existing nuclear power plants and either PTCs or investment tax credits (ITCs) for new carbon-free generation. These credits could make power uprates—increasing the maximum power level at which a commercial plant may operate—a much more appealing option for utilities.
S. R. Bierman, B. M. Durst, E. D. Clayton
Nuclear Science and Engineering | Volume 65 | Number 1 | January 1978 | Pages 41-48
Technical Paper | doi.org/10.13182/NSE78-A27124
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
There is a continuing interest in the use of fixed neutron absorbers (poisons) for criticality control, since their use would permit safely handling larger quantities of nuclear materials with reduced probability of criticality. The effectiveness of such absorbers as neutron poisons depends on self-shielding effects, which in turn are determined by the magnitude of the absorption cross sections and their variation with energy, the thickness of material, and the neutron energy spectrum. Criticality experiments were performed to obtain data on the reactivity worths of several thicknesses of the following materials in two different neutron energy spectra: Boral Cadmium Type 304-L stainless steel containing 1.6 wt% boron Type 304-L stainless steel containing 1.1 wt% boron Type 304-L stainless steel Uranium depleted to 0.2 wt% 235U Lead. The measurement data reported are limited to a single region of a given absorber material in each critical assembly. Combinations of absorber materials or multiregions were not investigated; however, material thicknesses were varied from 0 to ∼60 mm. The data are presented as sets of clean, well-defined, poisoned critical assemblies that can be used to check calculational techniques and cross-section data in two different neutron energy spectra. The materials are listed above in the order of their measured relative worth as fixed poisons in either neutron energy spectrum.