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
Materials Science & Technology
The objectives of MSTD are: promote the advancement of materials science in Nuclear Science Technology; support the multidisciplines which constitute it; encourage research by providing a forum for the presentation, exchange, and documentation of relevant information; promote the interaction and communication among its members; and recognize and reward its members for significant contributions to the field of materials science in nuclear technology.
Meeting Spotlight
International Conference on Mathematics and Computational Methods Applied to Nuclear Science and Engineering (M&C 2025)
April 27–30, 2025
Denver, CO|The Westin Denver Downtown
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
June 2025
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May 2025
Latest News
Argonne’s METL gears up to test more sodium fast reactor components
Argonne National Laboratory has successfully swapped out an aging cold trap in the sodium test loop called METL (Mechanisms Engineering Test Loop), the Department of Energy announced April 23. The upgrade is the first of its kind in the United States in more than 30 years, according to the DOE, and will help test components and operations for the sodium-cooled fast reactors being developed now.
Ahmed Badruzzaman
Nuclear Science and Engineering | Volume 198 | Number 1 | January 2024 | Pages 7-30
Research Article | doi.org/10.1080/00295639.2023.2177073
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
Accelerators have been integral to subsurface probing for decades. Tools with deuterium-tritium (D-T) generators and scintillators utilizing gamma rays from thermal neutron capture, inelastic scattering, and activation are routine in cased-hole logging tools for reservoir and well monitoring to locate and quantify remaining hydrocarbons prior to initiating secondary or tertiary production. X-ray and neutron generators field-tested to, respectively, replace 137Cs and americium-beryllium (Am-Be) source tools that measure two bulk parameters, formation density and neutron porosity critical for initial characterization of formations, have yielded mixed results. D-T generator-based spectroscopy tools with advanced scintillators that can record both inelastic and capture n-gamma spectra, faster and with much better energy resolution, to provide a more complete mineralogy appear poised to replace Am-Be–based mineralogy tools. In view of their ability to measure both bulk and spectral parameters, accelerator-based nuclear methods appear attractive to extract additional geological information needed to transition to a low-carbon energy future.
The paper discusses the current state of application of accelerator-based subsurface probing techniques, notes their potential for nonpetroleum applications, and concludes by briefly exploring technology advances that could significantly advance the state of the art.