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.
Explore membership for yourself or for your organization.
Conference Spotlight
2025 ANS Winter Conference & Expo
November 8–12, 2025
Washington, DC|Washington Hilton
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
Oct 2025
Jul 2025
Latest Journal Issues
Nuclear Science and Engineering
December 2025
Nuclear Technology
November 2025
Fusion Science and Technology
Latest News
DNFSB’s Summers ends board tenure, extending agency’s loss of quorum
Lee
Summers
The Defense Nuclear Facilities Safety Board, the independent agency responsible for ensuring that Department of Energy facilities are protective of public health and safety, announced that the board’s acting chairman, Thomas Summers, has concluded his service with the agency, having completed his second term as a board member on October 18.
Summers’ departure leaves Patricia Lee, who joined the DNFSB after being confirmed by the Senate in July 2024, as the board’s only remaining member and acting chair. Lee’s DNFSB board term ends in October 2027.
M. D. Freshley, E. A. Aitken, D. C. Wadekamper, R. L. Johnson, W. G. Lussie
Nuclear Technology | Volume 15 | Number 2 | August 1972 | Pages 239-248
Technical Paper | Plutonium Utilization in Commercial Power Reactors / Reactor | doi.org/10.13182/NT72-A31148
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
Transient tests were conducted on nonirradiated oxide pellet-containing fuel pins at SPERT to investigate the possible effects of large single 550-μm diam PuO2 particles on transient behavior. Results show that the effect of the large PuO2 particles was to reduce slightly the cladding failure threshold energy from the range of 225 to 274 cal/g of fuel to the range of 200 to 213 cal/g of fuel. Clad perforation occurs by localized melting caused by the expulsion of PuO2 particles through the cladding. The presence of single 550-μm diam PuO2 particles in mixed-oxide fuels does not appear to affect significantly the cladding failure threshold energy from that of mixed-oxide fuels with the normal PuO2 particle size and distribution. Therefore, product specifications which limit the maximum PuO2 particle size to 550-μm diam in mixed-oxide fuels do not appear warranted from the standpoint of transient fuel performance considerations.
