ANS is committed to advancing, fostering, and promoting the development and application of nuclear sciences and technologies to benefit society.
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Division Spotlight
Young Members Group
The Young Members Group works to encourage and enable all young professional members to be actively involved in the efforts and endeavors of the Society at all levels (Professional Divisions, ANS Governance, Local Sections, etc.) as they transition from the role of a student to the role of a professional. It sponsors non-technical workshops and meetings that provide professional development and networking opportunities for young professionals, collaborates with other Divisions and Groups in developing technical and non-technical content for topical and national meetings, encourages its members to participate in the activities of the Groups and Divisions that are closely related to their professional interests as well as in their local sections, introduces young members to the rules and governance structure of the Society, and nominates young professionals for awards and leadership opportunities available to members.
Meeting Spotlight
Utility Working Conference and Vendor Technology Expo (UWC 2024)
August 4–7, 2024
Marco Island, FL|JW Marriott Marco Island
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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Nuclear Science and Engineering
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Fusion Science and Technology
Latest News
Taking shape: Fusion energy ecosystems built with public-private partnerships
It’s possible to describe fusion in simple terms: heat and squeeze small atoms to get abundant clean energy. But there’s nothing simple about getting fusion ready for the grid.
Private developers, national lab and university researchers, suppliers, and end users working toward that goal are developing a range of complex technologies to reach fusion temperatures and pressures, confounded by science and technology gaps linked to plasma behavior; materials, diagnostics, and electronics for extreme environments; fuel cycle sustainability; and economics.
Hoai Nam Tran, Yasuyoshi Kato, Yasushi Muto
Nuclear Science and Engineering | Volume 158 | Number 3 | March 2008 | Pages 264-271
Technical Paper | doi.org/10.13182/NSE08-A2752
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
A burnable poison (BP) loading principle has been proposed for once-through-then-out refueling of a high-temperature gas-cooled reactor (HTGR) core with pebble fuel. The principle holds that an axial core power peaking factor can be minimized when k of the fuel pebbles is kept constant during their axial movement from the top to the bottom of the core by adding BP. This principle has been confirmed numerically using B4C with 10B enrichment of 90% and Gd2O3 with natural content as BP. Spherical particles of B4C and Gd2O3 are distributed uniformly in the fuel pebble. The respective optimal radius and number of BP particles are 90 m and 1650 for B4C and 950 m and 16 for Gd2O3. Through addition of B4C and Gd2O3, the power peaking factors are reduced from 4.4 to 1.61 and 1.64, respectively. Burnup reactivity swings are reduced from 38% to about 2% in both BP loadings. Because of reduction of the power peaking factors, the maximum fuel temperatures are respectively lower than the maximum permissible values of 1250 and 1600°C for normal operation and depressurization accident.