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
Operations & Power
Members focus on the dissemination of knowledge and information in the area of power reactors with particular application to the production of electric power and process heat. The division sponsors meetings on the coverage of applied nuclear science and engineering as related to power plants, non-power reactors, and other nuclear facilities. It encourages and assists with the dissemination of knowledge pertinent to the safe and efficient operation of nuclear facilities through professional staff development, information exchange, and supporting the generation of viable solutions to current issues.
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
January 2025
Fusion Science and Technology
Latest News
Biden executive order to facilitate AI data center power
As demand for artificial intelligence and data centers grows, President Biden issued an executive order yesterday aimed to ensure clean-energy power supply for the technology.
P. Michelato, E. Cavaliere, C. Pagani, E. Bari, A. Bonucci
Nuclear Science and Engineering | Volume 157 | Number 1 | September 2007 | Pages 95-109
Technical Paper | doi.org/10.13182/NSE07-A2715
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
In recent years the research on nuclear power generation focused on an innovative subcritical reactor concept, along with previous liquid-metal-cooled critical reactors. The accelerator-driven system reactor design matches higher and intrinsic safety requirements with the reduction of actinides and long-lived fission products, encumbrances on the nuclear waste final repository. The coupling of the accelerator technology with the reactor facility faces new challenges; the first is the design of the interface between accelerator and reactor. Currently two solutions are proposed and investigated: one with a solid beam-target window interface and the other one without a beam window. Our speculations focus on the windowless approach: No physical barrier is located in the interface region, so the ultrahigh vacuum environment of the accelerator is connected with the operative conditions of the reactor through an intermediate spallation target. In this work we describe our experimental activities and the numerical tool employed to give a basic characterization of the vacuum dynamics for a windowless interface, with particular regard given to proton beamline and target interface of the Ansaldo A80-XADS reference design.