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
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!
Latest Magazine Issues
Apr 2025
Jan 2025
Latest Journal Issues
Nuclear Science and Engineering
May 2025
Nuclear Technology
April 2025
Fusion Science and Technology
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.”
Xiaotian Li, Xiaowei Li, Li Shi, Zhengming Zhang, Shuyan He
Nuclear Technology | Volume 174 | Number 1 | April 2011 | Pages 29-40
Technical Paper | One-Phase Fluid Flow | doi.org/10.13182/NT11-A11677
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
The hot gas duct vessel (HGDV) is an important part of the high-temperature reactor-pebble-bed module (HTR-PM) primary loop pressure boundary system. It connects the reactor pressure vessel (RPV) and steam generator pressure vessel. Because the dimensions of the HGDV are smaller than those of the other two vessels, it is often considered the weakest of the three vessels. Therefore, the safety of the HGDV has become one of the most important issues in the design of the HTR-PM. In the present paper, a comprehensive safety analysis of the HGDV in the HTR-PM was performed with an emphasis on the structural features. The designs of the HGDV and the support system of the primary loop pressure boundary are first described. A preliminary safety analysis of the HGDV, including the stress calculations and leak-before-break (LBB) analysis, is then presented. The results show that the stress levels of the HGDV under various accidents have a safety margin of at least 55.3% compared with the stress limits specified in American Society of Mechanical Engineers code, and the stress intensity factor at the postulated flaw is less than the critical stress intensity factor. The LBB analysis indicated that the leak detection system is capable of detecting leaks caused by a postulated through-thickness crack in the HGDV before it reaches the critical size. Although the preliminary analysis has proved the safety of the HGDV, the consequences of a hypothetical HGDV double-ended break accident were also studied to further investigate the safety features of the HTR-PM. Several mitigation measures were employed based on the original design. The structural integrity of the support system, the reactor internals, and the containment under double-ended break accident were evaluated. The results show that these main structures could maintain integrity under the HGDV double-ended break accident.