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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.
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!
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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.”
Ezequiel Goldberg, Alejandro Soba
Nuclear Science and Engineering | Volume 195 | Number 12 | December 2021 | Pages 1291-1306
Technical Paper | doi.org/10.1080/00295639.2021.1918939
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
Various numerical models are developed that seek to reproduce, in a simulation instance, the formation and evolution of cracks in the claddings of nuclear fuel elements. The algorithms are based on the cohesive zone method within the finite element framework. When applied to simulations involving fracture mechanics, cohesive elements have various advantages, such as not needing to know the stress state in advance, representing the nucleation of the crack, and being able to reproduce the contact between the crack surfaces after fracture, with numerous application examples for ductile materials, including metals. The models developed were included in the DIONISIO 3.0 nuclear fuel code and compared with analytical test cases, controlled tests of nuclear materials, and a large set of experimental exercises with rods subjected to steep power ramps where breakages are caused due to contact with the pellets. Similarly, these new models were used in controlled experiments where the conditions of an accident type such as a loss-of-coolant accident are reproduced, analyzing the variation of the thermohydraulic, thermomechanical, and structural parameters of a rod.