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
ANS Student Conference 2025
April 3–5, 2025
Albuquerque, NM|The University of New Mexico
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
Apr 2025
Jan 2025
Latest Journal Issues
Nuclear Science and Engineering
May 2025
Nuclear Technology
April 2025
Fusion Science and Technology
Latest News
First astatine-labeled compound shipped in the U.S.
The Department of Energy’s National Isotope Development Center (NIDC) on March 31 announced the successful long-distance shipment in the United States of a biologically active compound labeled with the medical radioisotope astatine-211 (At-211). Because previous shipments have included only the “bare” isotope, the NIDC has described the development as “unleashing medical innovation.”
E. M. Oblow
Nuclear Science and Engineering | Volume 68 | Number 3 | December 1978 | Pages 322-337
Technical Paper | doi.org/10.13182/NSE78-A27309
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
A sensitivity theory based on reactor physics experience was successfully developed for a reactor thermal-hydraulics problem. The new theory is derived for the case of nonlinear transient heat and mass transfer in a typical reactor subassembly. Suitable adjoint equations for heat and fluid flow are presented along with methods for deriving the sources and boundary and final conditions for these equations. Expressions for the sensitivity of any integral temperature response to problem input data are also presented. The theory is applied to a sample problem describing the steady-state thermal-hydraulic conditions in a Clinch River Breeder Reactor fuel channel. For this case, sensitivity coefficients are derived for several thermal response functions (i.e., peak clad and peak fuel temperature) for all physical input data (i.e., the heat transfer coefficient, thermal conductivities, etc.). A typical uncertainty analysis for peak clad and peak fuel temperature was also performed using uncertainty information about the physical data. Conclusions are drawn about the applicability of this approach to more general problems, and the procedures for its implementation in conjunction with large safety or thermal-hydraulics codes are outlined. The method is also compared with currently used response surface techniques.