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
Operations & Power
Members focus on the dissemination of knowledge and information in the area of power reactors with particular application to the production of electric power and process heat. The division sponsors meetings on the coverage of applied nuclear science and engineering as related to power plants, non-power reactors, and other nuclear facilities. It encourages and assists with the dissemination of knowledge pertinent to the safe and efficient operation of nuclear facilities through professional staff development, information exchange, and supporting the generation of viable solutions to current issues.
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
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Nuclear Science and Engineering
August 2024
Nuclear Technology
Fusion Science and Technology
Latest News
Vogtle-3 shuts down for valve issue
One of the new Vogtle units in Georgia was shut down unexpectedly on Monday last week for a valve issue that has since been investigated and repaired. According to multiple local news outlets, Georgia Power reported on July 17 that Unit 3 was back in service.
Southern Company spokesperson Jacob Hawkins confirmed that Vogtle-3 went off line at 9:25 p.m. local time on July 8 “due to lowering water levels in the steam generators caused by a valve issue on one of the three main feedwater pumps.”
Clay A. Cooper, David L. Decker
Nuclear Technology | Volume 174 | Number 3 | June 2011 | Pages 452-459
Technical Paper | TOUGH2 Symposium / Radioactive Waste Management and Disposal | doi.org/10.13182/NT11-A11752
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
Nuclear rocket engine technology is being considered as a means of interplanetary vehicle propulsion for a manned mission to Mars. Significant technological research and development are required before nuclear-based rocket propulsion can be integrated into an interplanetary vehicle, including the firing of full-scale nuclear rocket engines in a test and evaluation facility. Testing of nuclear engines in the 1950s and 1960s was accomplished by directing engine exhaust gases into the atmosphere, a practice that is no longer acceptable. Testing nuclear rocket engines by injection of associated radioactive exhaust gases and water vapor into deep unsaturated zones may be a way to sequester radionuclides and will require comprehensive design of a nuclear engine test facility. We conducted numerical simulations to determine the ability of an unsaturated zone with the hydraulic properties of Yucca Flat alluvium at the Nevada National Security Site to contain gas-phase radionuclides. In these simulations, gas and water vapor (from water sprayed into the exhaust for cooling) were injected for two hours at a temperature of 600°C and with rates of 14.5 kg s-1 and 15 kg s-1 , respectively, in varying thicknesses of alluvium with an intrinsic permeability of 10-11 m2 and porosity of 0.35. These simulations suggest that following the test of an engine, gaseous radionuclides injected below 200 m will not migrate to the land surface. The simulations show that the gaseous/vapor injectate will cool and condense within several meters of the injection point, although there will be limited, if any, downward drainage of liquid. However, the nearly horizontal hydraulic groundwater gradient present in Yucca Flat should limit lateral migration of any condensate that may drain downward and reach the water table.