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
Isotopes & Radiation
Members are devoted to applying nuclear science and engineering technologies involving isotopes, radiation applications, and associated equipment in scientific research, development, and industrial processes. Their interests lie primarily in education, industrial uses, biology, medicine, and health physics. Division committees include Analytical Applications of Isotopes and Radiation, Biology and Medicine, Radiation Applications, Radiation Sources and Detection, and Thermal Power Sources.
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!
Latest Magazine Issues
Jul 2024
Jan 2024
Latest Journal Issues
Nuclear Science and Engineering
August 2024
Nuclear Technology
Fusion Science and Technology
Latest News
ARPA-E announces $40 million to develop transmutation technologies for UNF
The Department of Energy’s Advanced Research Projects Agency–Energy (ARPA-E) announced $40 million in funding to develop cutting-edge technologies to enable the transmutation of used nuclear fuel into less-radioactive substances. According to ARPA-E, the new initiative addresses one of the agency’s core goals as outlined by Congress: to provide transformative solutions to improve the management, cleanup, and disposal of radioactive waste and spent nuclear fuel.
Michal Cihlář, Pavel Zácha, Jan Uhlíř, Martin Mareček, Václav Dostál, Jan Prehradný
Nuclear Science and Engineering | Volume 197 | Number 12 | December 2023 | Pages 2961-2976
YMSR Paper | doi.org/10.1080/00295639.2023.2189549
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
The Experimental Molten FLiBe Salt Loop (MSL), which was previously damaged during operation, is currently undergoing renovation using a risk-based design approach. An important part of this approach is to reliably define and explore normal and abnormal states of the MSL in order to avoid repeating such failures. A numerical model consisting of heated walls and working fluid volume was created for the ANSYS Fluent code. The quality of this model was checked, and sensitivity analysis for mesh quality was performed. Moreover, another sensitivity analysis was performed for the heat transfer coefficient between the insulation and the surrounding air. A number of different normal and abnormal states were identified, investigated, and described, including the loop filling process, regular operation with natural circulation or forced circulation, heating cutoff without draining, and insulation failure. The results of these investigations will be used for the risk-based design of the MSL renovation; for precise establishment of operation and safety limits, conditions, rules, and procedures before the MSL commissioning; and consequently, on a regular basis, for the risk-based operation, experiments, and maintenance of the MSL.