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
Accelerator Applications
The division was organized to promote the advancement of knowledge of the use of particle accelerator technologies for nuclear and other applications. It focuses on production of neutrons and other particles, utilization of these particles for scientific or industrial purposes, such as the production or destruction of radionuclides significant to energy, medicine, defense or other endeavors, as well as imaging and diagnostics.
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
Fusion Science and Technology
Latest News
IAEA’s nuclear security center offers hands-on training
In the past year and a half, the International Atomic Energy Agency has established the Nuclear Security Training and Demonstration Center (NSTDC) to help countries strengthen their nuclear security regimes. The center, located at the IAEA’s Seibersdorf laboratories outside Vienna, Austria, has been operational since October 2023.
Brian Cohn, Todd Noel, Jeffrey Cardoni, Troy Haskin, Douglas Osborn, Tunc Aldemir
Nuclear Science and Engineering | Volume 197 | Number 1 | June 2023 | Pages S45-S56
Technical Paper | doi.org/10.1080/00295639.2023.2177076
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
Nuclear security relies on the method of vital area identification (VAI) to determine which locations within the nuclear power plant (NPP) need to be protected from radiological sabotage. The VAI methodology uses fault trees (FTs) and event trees (ETs) to identify locations in the NPP that contain vital equipment: structures and components that may result in reactor significant core damage if direct or indirect sabotage occurred. However, the traditional FT/ET process cannot fully capture the dynamics of NPP systems and mitigating measures at play. Existing safety systems or possible operator procedures may be able to avert or mitigate core damage despite the loss of one or more vital areas. Dynamic probabilistic risk assessment (DPRA) methodologies are those that, unlike traditional probabilistic risk assessment, explicitly consider time effects when modeling a system. One common DPRA methodology is that of the use of dynamic event trees (DETs) that drive computer models of a system with user-specified branching conditions to account for uncertainties in a scenario. The DPRA process allows analysts to explore the uncertainties and state space of a scenario in a systematic fashion. A scenario was developed that uses the novel leading simulator/trailing simulator methodology to perform a DET analysis of a combined nuclear safety and nuclear security analysis. The scenario under consideration models the successful sabotage of a vital area by adversaries and determines the effects of timing and the extent of sabotage, as well as possible recovery actions, on the state of the plant. The results of this integrated analysis include the timing and extent of core damage as well as the extent of any radiological release that may occur as a result of sabotage.